


Run With The Devil

by Half



Series: Run With The Devil [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Bank Robber AU, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:57:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 48,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7672735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Half/pseuds/Half
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one knows why they do what they do. Some say it's thrill. Some say it's greed. Some say it's fear. All anybody knows for sure is that ten banks across the United States and Canada have already been robbed- and the women behind the crimes show no signs of slowing down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. He's Gonna Press Your Luck, Still You (Run Amuck)

**Author's Note:**

> If you liveblog this on Tumblr please tag @youreagoodliar so I can laugh about it.
> 
> Each chapter title is named after a song title. https://open.spotify.com/user/half1319/playlist/1EnjaAV66AS7bcVG2ESGDP

_When you’re the descendant of a famous lawman, people expect things from you._

_They expect you to follow the rules._

_Most did. At least, to some degree. Our dad for one was less ‘lawman’ more ‘drunkard’, but he protected people where he could._

_The three of us? We… didn’t really turn out that way. I can’t say why. Maybe it was fate. I’ve never quite believed in that. And how depressingly shitty would it be if fate had led to everything we were forced to do? Everything **I** was forced to do?_

_Who knows. Maybe it is fate. Maybe if it is I can push the blame off of myself. Feel a little less guilty over all of the people we ended up getting hurt. I can hope, right?_

_It started to go downhill that July, about a month after we first threw our lives away. A month since we had last seen the hometown we cared so much about. A month since we betrayed the legacy we had been raised to respect._

_You’ll hear a lot of things about us in the next few weeks. Months, probably, even. The only thing I really want you to know, to understand, is that when all is said and done, we tried. We tried._

_I swear to hell, we really did try to make it better._  

 

+++

 

**JULY 2 – SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A.**

“A JEEP? A _JEEP?!_ YOU THOUGHT A _JEEP_ WOULD BE A GOOD GETAWAY CAR?” Wynonna Earp jumped into the back of the waiting red vehicle, sliding forward until she could slip into the passenger seat and toss her handgun into the pocket of the door.

Her baby sister laughed from the seat next to her. “When you’re the one driving, you can choose what we use.” She threw the Jeep into drive and practically skidded down the street. “Where’s Willa?”

“Three blocks down.”

“This was a stupid idea, you know.”

“Yeah, well, you are the only responsible adult in this family.”

“Which reminds me, you’re late.”

“Bite me.”

“You can’t be late when cops are going to show up, Wynonna.”

“Waverly, just drive.”

As they headed towards the proper corner, a line of police cars sped past them in the opposite direction. Wynonna snickered. “These guys have absolutely no idea, do they?”

Waverly rolled her eyes. “That’s how we stay out of prison. Remember?”

“Yeah, yeah. Did you pack the whiskey?”

“Oh, dear god.” Waverly pulled over to the curb when she reached the intersection, and the eldest Earp sister, Willa, hopped into the back of the Jeep.

“You’re late, Waverly,” she said in a clipped voice.

“Sure, yeah, it’s my fault. Everything always is.”

“Guys,” Wynonna said softly. “Don’t.”

Willa sighed and leaned back in her seat. “Did we remember to bring whiskey?”

As they stopped at a red light, Waverly groaned and rested her forehead against the steering wheel. “Somebody just shoot me.”

“That can be arranged.”

“Willa, I swear-”

“Hey, guys?” Wynonna interrupted Waverly’s angry remark sharply. “Why don’t we just focus on all of the _money_ we just made?”

Waverly gave a thin smile. “Made, huh?”

“A lot of work was put into obtaining it,” Wynonna said, patting the bag in her lap. “Isn’t that right, Will?”

“Mhm. And hitting two banks at once? Best plan you’ve ever had, ‘Nonna.”

Waverly made a noncommittal noise of irritation and took a corner a bit hard, knocking Willa around in the back of the Jeep. Her oldest sister smacked her in the back of the head. “Hey, do you wanna go, brat?”

“She’s _driving_ , Willa, good _god_ , leave her alone!”

“Yeah, she’s driving, and she’s gonna get her ass kicked!”

Wynonna pulled a bottle of alcohol out of the bag under her seat and took a long drink from it. “Can we not do this until we’re more than five minutes from the banks we just robbed?”

“Fine,” Waverly and Willa snapped simultaneously.

Their sister leaned against the door of the Jeep and took another chug of whiskey, shaking her head slowly and wondering if she would be allowed to laugh at the fact that the oldest and youngest Earps had the exact same set in their jaw when angry.

Since Willa still had a gun in her lap, Wynonna kept her mouth shut.

 

+++

 

They parked behind the local dive bar, and the moment they got out of the car, Willa was in Waverly’s face. “Do you have some kind of problem with me?”

“You seem to have one with me,” Waverly replied coldly.

“We’re not doing this here,” Wynonna muttered, pushing between them. She gripped Willa by the shoulders. “Please don’t make me the adult. I’m really bad at it, and I don’t even like trying.” She turned to Waverly and put an arm around her. “C’mon, baby girl, you’re the good one.”

Waverly snorted, but a smile played across her face. “In this family that’s not really saying much.”

“Oh, hush. Get your gun out of the Jeep.”

 

+++

 

Nobody in the bar paid any attention whatsoever to the three women walking in the back door with heavy-looking black bags. Not even the shotgun carried loosely in Waverly’s hand drew any attention. That was the main point of using bars like this as bases of operation- if you tipped well and occasionally bought a few rounds, not a single person there was going to ask what was going on.

Waverly gave a bright grin to the bartender and tossed a wad of cash to him. “Send some booze around, would you, Garrett?”

Charmed by her smile, the young man behind the counter started stammering. “Y-Yes, ma’am. R-Right away.” He quickly began to serve the other patrons, while the sisters took to the steps and went upstairs to the room they had rented.

Once inside the small space, Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Why not just screw him and put him out of his misery, Wave?”

Waverly snorted. “Uh, because first of all no, second of all I don’t mix business and pleasure.” She laid down on the bed and pulled a book out from under the mattress. “How much did you guys get?”

“Ten thousand,” Wynonna said.

“Thirty thousand,” Willa said.

Wynonna grimaced and took a seat at the desk to drink more of her whiskey. “Show off.”

“How did you even carry that much… you know what, I don’t even want to ask.” Waverly scribbled the numbers in her book and absent-mindedly chewed on the end of her pen. “We’re getting closer.”

“Closer isn’t going to do us a damn bit of good.” Willa pointed at her. “I think you need to start getting involved.”

Wynonna set the whiskey bottle down slowly. “She _is_ involved. She makes sure we actually get away.”

“Yeah, well, that’s a whole hell of a lot less dangerous than what _we_ do, now isn’t it?”

Waverly sat up quickly, rage burning in her eyes. “ _Excuse me?_ I’ll go to _prison_ just as fast as the two of you, thanks. I didn’t ask for this. None of us did. So why don’t you just-”

Their door opened, and the argument stopped immediately as all three sisters picked up guns and seamlessly trained them on the person entering their room. The older woman standing in front of them just scoffed.

“If you’re going to shoot me, good. Saves me the trouble of paying for your goddamn lawyers.”

Waverly’s bright smile lit her face up again as she dropped her shotgun back onto the bed and bounded up onto her feet, bolting over to give the woman a hug. “Gus!”

The woman returned the hug. “Hey, kiddo.” She gave Wynonna and Willa a narrowed look. “Will you two put your damn guns down? Hell!”

“Sorry, Gus,” both said as they set their handguns back down.

“How did you find us?” Willa asked.

“Because I’m not a fool. You’re Earps and you’re idiots. Of course you’re in the local bar.”

Wynonna snorted. “Thanks a lot. Best aunt in history.”

“You know it.” Gus shut the door and leaned against it. “This needs to stop.”

“It can’t and you know it,” Willa replied coldly.

“It is _not_ your responsibility to save everyone,” Gus snapped. “Get that through your heads for once!”

“Gus,” Waverly murmured. “Like you said. We’re Earps. It _is_ our responsibility to save everyone.”

Their aunt gave a heavy sigh. “I’d just rather not see you all die. Lord knows everyone else in this family has died in the name of protecting others. I don’t want you three to join them, especially not like this.”

“We’ll be okay. We promise.”

“Wynonna Earp, don’t lie to me.”

“But it’s what I do best.” Wynonna took a long drink from the bottle of whiskey and said, “You didn’t hop the border to reiterate stuff we already know, Gus. What’s going on?”

Gus hesitated, sighing again. “It’s Curtis.”

Waverly went tense immediately. “Is Uncle Curtis okay?”

After another hesitation, Gus met her niece’s gaze and, in a low, strained voice, said, “No.”


	2. But I Got (Trouble In Mind)

_My baby sister has always been the calm one. The one who can smile no matter how bad her day is going._

_She has never, ever gotten as angry as Willa and I always are._

_But Curtis was…_

_I’ll be honest, he and Gus were the only real parents she ever really had. The only adults in her life that ever really gave much of a damn about her well-being. Our mother ditched before Wave had even processed her existence, and our dad... I’m not sure he ever actually cared about her. I still don’t know why. I’m not sure I want to._

_She didn’t cry until after Gus had left to go back to Purgatory. And even then, it was just a quick outburst of emotion that she quickly buried under the mission. But she changed that night. Got angrier. And as funny as it is to see her try to take a swig of whiskey to steel herself (I love my baby sister, but she is a terrible drinker), the look in her eyes wasn’t funny at all._

_I was going to lose her. I knew it. And dammit, I should’ve done something to stop it._

_I was just too busy being angry myself._

 

+++

 

**JULY 2 – SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A.**

 

Waverly was the planner.

It had been she who had figured out the perfect route through North America to prevent law enforcement from establishing their pattern. A series of twists and turns and about-faces and border-crossings that had made it all but impossible for anyone to figure out where they were headed next. It was easy for them, really. From what they could tell, most bank robbers had an endgame, a final escape route or big score that they were thieving their way towards. The three of them didn’t have that challenge.

(Or, depending on the viewpoint, that luxury.)

Wynonna sat on the desk chair backwards, silently watching her little sister on the floor next to her, scouring the Spokane notebook. “Where are we heading next, Wave?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Bismarck, North Dakota.”

“What’s the drive?”

“About fourteen hours.”

Wynonna scoffed. “That’s not bad at all. The one here from Milwaukee was, what, a full day?”

“Twenty-five hours.”

“A full day was close enough, Waves.”

“Close enough isn’t good enough,” Waverly muttered. She picked up the notebook in which she was keeping track of their collection of money. “Nothing’s ever good enough. _We’re_ never good enough.”

“You’re starting to sound like me,” Wynonna joked softly. She ruffled a hand through Waverly’s hair. “Maybe you should get some sleep, kid. Willa’s got the right idea. We’re not leaving for another few days. There’s plenty of time for you to study that thing.”

“We need to be prepared.”

“You’re always prepared.”

“Not enough, clearly.”

Wynonna kept her hand rested on the top of Waverly’s head. “You think Bobo killed Uncle Curtis.”

“You think he _didn’t_?”

“I don’t know. It sure as hell feels like a message. A reminder of what he’ll do if we don’t keep our promise. But I’m not about to blow this out of grief.”

Waverly sniffed and stared at the floor, rubbing at her eyes. “When we give this money to him, as soon as the ransom is fulfilled, we should kill him.”

Wynonna smiled and turned back to the desk to continue cleaning her handgun. “Trust me, Waves. I’m already planning on _that_ stage of the operation.”

“Are you going to give me a shot?” Waverly muttered.

Her sister playfully pushed her head to one side. “I’ll give you the _first_ one.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 4 – SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, U.S.A.**

“The Americans really like blowing stuff up,” Willa said as she downed a shot and watched a barrage of fireworks explode on the television in the bar.

“As if you _don’t_ like blowing stuff up,” Wynonna challenged.

“I have absolutely no idea what you mean.” Willa beckoned for another shot.

“Don’t start something,” Wynonna said under her breath as she took another sip of her beer.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re three shots in already.”

“We’re Earps. Three shots is like drinking a glass of water.” Willa snorted and rolled her eyes. “Unless you’re Waverly, who can drink wine and champagne and those like hard ciders and lemonades and that’s about it.”

Wynonna shrugged. “Ah, give her a break. She’s a kid.”

“She’s twenty-one, Wynonna.”

“Yeah, and you’re getting awfully close to thirty. So she’s a kid.”

Willa hissed a stream of curses that got drowned out by another round of digital fireworks.

Waverly bounded over to them and jumped onto the barstool next to Willa. “Hey! Are we going to go over to watch those fireworks that aren’t boring and streamed tonight?”

“We have to get ready to leave in the morning,” Willa said.

“Oh, I’ve already gotten everything done. That’s what I’ve been doing all day today and yesterday.”

“Trust me, Will? We need to get Waverly out of this bar.” Wynonna finished the rest of her beer as Willa was handed her next shot. “Yes, Waverly, we’re going to go watch the fireworks. Yippee for American Independence.”

Willa raised her shot glass in a mock toast. “To the freedom to lie, cheat, and steal.”

As their older sister downed her shot, Wynonna and Waverly both sarcastically said, “Hear, hear.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 5 – BILLINGS, MONTANA, U.S.A.**

“I can’t believe you found a Cracker Barrel in Montana,” Wynonna grumbled as she bit into her cheeseburger. “I was hoping we’d only have to suffer through them on the east coast.”

Waverly shrugged without any apology. “They have food, clean restrooms, and you can buy dumb stuff in their store. Plus, _giant Smarties_. Why do you hate happiness, Wynonna?”

“I’m picking the next food destination.”

“Oh, okay.” Waverly shook her head. “I’m sure the seventeen McDonalds locations we’ve stopped at are _really_ better than my picks.”

“One vaguely healthy salad,” Willa mumbled. “That’s all I ask. _One_ vaguely healthy salad.”

“I told you we should’ve decided to rob a place in New Jersey. They have diners everywhere.”

Waverly smirked. “I would’ve stopped at a Cracker Barrel.”

“Fuck you.”

“You should’ve paid more attention to my planning, Wy. I _told_ you that you should’ve gotten involved in the planning. You ignored me. This is entirely your fault.”

Wynonna groaned and put her head in her hands. “However far away Bismarck is, it’s too far.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 8 – BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, U.S.A.**

FBI Agent Xavier Dolls stood on the curb and stared at the glass bank doors blocked off with crime scene tape. He had investigated more crimes than he could ever count, seen more criminals than he could ever name, but this…

Honestly, this impressed him.

Bismarck was the twelfth bank, the tenth in the United States. All hit by the same person, or, more likely, people.

He couldn’t believe that one person was doing all of these crimes, and besides, two banks had been robbed simultaneously with the same M.O. in Spokane. The odds of such a thing were so slim that he refused to label it coincidence.

Coincidences were possible, but sometimes things were _too_ convenient.

“What do you make of it?”

Dolls turned his head at the woman who stood next to him. “Agent Lucado.”

“I know my name, Agent Dolls. What do you make of the scene?”

He shrugged. “It’s just as clean as the others. Robber wore gloves and a disguise. Cameras went out right before she entered through the door. Guard was hit with a taser immediately upon entry.”

“Other cameras in the area?”

Dolls gave her a humorless smile. “Nobody’s found a working one yet.”

Lucado hissed under her breath. “ _Damn_ these people. This is ridiculous. How can we have _nothing_ after _this many crime scenes_?”

“I think they might just be that good, ma’am.”

“Watch that attitude, Dolls. If you start respecting these filthy criminals, you might start thinking that they deserve to be free.”

Dolls snorted. “They’re still _criminals_ , Lucado. I can appreciate the talent without appreciating the actions.”

“You had better. I have a bad feeling about this one. Cases like this can ruin careers if they go too far.” She grinned at him with no emotion. “If you aren’t careful, you’ll be the first one to feel the effects.”


	3. Don't Want (No Sugar In My Coffee)

_We didn’t want to go on a spree across Canada. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to target our own country._

_Sure, we crossed the border a few times. It was for the best, as a countermeasure. Every time the American cops thought that they had might have established where we’d hit next, we’d jump back over to Canada._

_It always felt like a comfort. Like a robbery in Canada was home. Which is ridiculous, I know, but… that was our lives._

_I suppose now talking about our crimes as if they’re anything but horrifying and pointless is something you would never be able to comprehend. I understand that. But somehow, these actions brought the three of us together. We were able to build a family that I had thought was lost forever._

_We grew up together. Gus and Curtis raised us. But the three of us never really felt like a unit until we started robbing people._

_It makes me sick sometimes, thinking of what it took for me to become truly close to both of my sisters. But then, I suppose that if I knew them better, I would’ve seen the problems coming. I would’ve seen the warning signs before we destroyed more lives than we were hoping to save._

 

+++

 

**JULY 9 – REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA**

 

Wynonna and Willa walked calmly out of a bank and headed off in different directions, shouldering purses.

No one paid either of them any mind. When they shed their disguises and met up again at the Civic that Waverly was sitting in, casually eating a pack of chicken nuggets and continuously checking her watch.

“Hope you enjoyed your lunch while we were putting our lives in danger,” Willa said dryly as she got into the backseat.

“I did,” Waverly replied, leaning out her window to toss her box into a nearby trashcan and starting the car. “But I went into the restaurant to deactivate any cameras that could catch you two coming up to my car. Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis.” She pulled out of the parking lot and started heading towards their motel. “I hope the teamwork method went well for you.”

“I only tried to shoot Wynonna once,” Willa joked.

“Very funny.” Wynonna pointed at the cups in the cup holder between her and Waverly. “Coffee?”

“One for you, one for Willa.”

Willa immediately lunged forward in her seat to grab one of the cups. “I hate you less.”

“I figured.” Waverly yawned and turned off the radio. “You guys made good time. We’ll have plenty of time to rest before our marathon driving session.”

“How far away’s the next one?”

Waverly grimaced. “Forty-six hours.”

Wynonna groaned and sunk down in her seat. “Forensic countermeasures suck.”

Willa lowered her coffee cup long enough to say, “Prison sucks more.”

“Oh, shut up, Will.”

“I hope you at least made some money?” Waverly prompted.

“Not nearly enough for a city’s bank.” Wynonna patted the bag in her lap. “Ten grand split between the two of us.”

“Good. We’ll have enough money in, say, four years. Everyone we know will be dead by then.”

Willa took the sleeve off of her coffee cup and threw it at the back of Waverly’s head. “You’re the one who picked these banks, Waverly. Don’t judge the hauls now.”

“I picked them based on whether or not we would survive robbing them. Why do you think there are so many we have to go to? It’s not because I’m expecting a million dollars, but _one break_ would be nice.”

Wynonna tried to down some of her coffee and choked on the heat. In a weak voice, she asked, “When do we hit Reno?”

Waverly shrugged. “I dunno, sometime in August I think. Why?”

“How good are you at counting cards?”

The youngest Earp laughed. “I’m good at languages, Wy. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to cheat us into more money.”

“You should consider studying up on that,” Willa said thoughtfully. “It might be a good option.”

“Sure, guys. I’ll do that in between driving a getaway car and putting plans into place for bank robbers.”

Wynonna reached over and patted her on the knee. “Way to be a team player, Waves.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 11 – BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, U.S.A.**

Dolls was on his fourth cup of coffee staring at the crime scene photos of the Bismarck bank robbery, pinned to a corkboard in a local police station, when a polite knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

He looked at the door and saw a young officer standing in the doorway, holding case files in her hands.

“Are those the files from the earlier robberies? You can just set them on the table; thanks.”

“Er, well, they _are_ from previous robberies, but I don’t think they’re what you’re thinking of.”

Dolls suddenly realized that he had seen so many cops over the past few weeks that he hadn’t realized that the officer in front of him wasn’t a member of the Bismarck P.D. She was wearing a short-sleeved pale blue-gray uniform shirt, navy pants, and brown boots. And the emblems on her uniform weren’t American.

“I’m sorry, who-”

She walked into the room and held out a hand to him, grinning pleasantly. “Nicole Haught. RCMP.”

“I thought you guys wore red.”

She continued grinning, but all emotion was out of her face. “We usually don’t wear that during the day-to-day.”

Dolls gave a faint smirk. “I take it that you get that question a lot.”

“More than I care to discuss.” Nicole held up the files she was carrying. “Files on robberies in Quebec, Prince Albert, and Regina. They all match those robbers you’ve been chasing.”

“Regina?” Dolls took the files from her and started flipping through them. “I knew about the first two, but when did Regina happen?”

“The ninth.”

“Damn these women move fast.”

“I wish I had their endurance,” Nicole joked. When Dolls didn’t smile, she cleared her throat and interlocked her fingers behind her back. “The same lack of evidence problem occurred in the Regina robbery. Nobody saw anything. Both women robbed the bank at the same time, they worked together, but there was no extra information to be gained. Except that they work together very well.”

Dolls nodded slowly. “They trust each other.”

“I would certainly hope so at this point. I know there’s no honor among thieves, but they’re at thirteen bank robberies now. I would hope that they’d at least trust each other a _little_.”

“Or the trust is about ready to break,” Dolls murmured. “That much crime is bound to take its toll.”

“Either way, if they don’t start making mistakes, I doubt we’ll get anywhere.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “ _We?_ ”

Nicole scoffed. “Yeah. I was sent down here to work with you and your partner. It was already cleared, just ask her. Canadian authorities aren’t really taking this as anything too serious as most of the crimes are concentrated down here, but everybody wants a combined effort here since there is clearly border crossing going on.”

“And what, Officer, makes _you_ the most qualified Canadian to join our investigation?” Lucado asked as the walked into the room and gave Nicole a derisive look.

“It’s Constable, actually.”

“Ah. The lowest rank in the RCMP.” Lucado smirked. “Figures.”

Nicole gave the kind of smile that, if smiling were a language, would translate to English as ‘fuck you’. “If you Americans have your cops so undertrained that they’re incompetent until promoted, then I can see why that would be an issue. I, however, am more than capable of doing my job.”

Lucado narrowed her eyes. “We’ll soon see, _Constable_.”

“I guess we will. These criminals don’t look like they’re planning on stopping, so it’s only a matter of time before another crime scene drops.” Nicole shrugged. “Unless you’re planning on finding some evidence at the scenes we already have?”

“Dolls, this girl is your problem. Keep her on a leash so she doesn’t get herself shot for mouthing off.” Lucado turned on her heel and left the room.

He gave a low whistle. “You’ve earned yourself an enemy there, Constable Haught.”

“I’m generally a nice person, but something about her just…”

“I know the feeling.” Dolls folded his arms across his chest. “So, are you going to spill?”

Nicole blinked at him in confusion. “Spill what?”

“The real reason you were picked for this assignment.”

“Oh.” Nicole flushed. “Well, I _am_ good at my job and I _was_ towards the top of my class but I’m also somebody who wouldn’t shut up about these bank robberies being both connected and important and when it was decided that somebody needed to work with the Americans…”

“You were volunteered,” Dolls finished.

“That’s a polite way of saying it.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I think you’re right.”

“About what?”

“I think these bank robberies are going to end up being the most important cases of our careers.”

Nicole sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, looking at the map. “Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me much.”

 

+++

 

**LABRADOR CITY, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, CANADA**

 

Wynonna and Willa took turns drinking out of a whiskey bottle as they played cards and watched Waverly sleep.

“Is she doing okay? After Uncle Curtis?” Willa was frowning, staring at Waverly curiously. “She was so upset after Gus left and then she just threw herself into mission mode and she’s just been… It’s like she doesn’t even remember it happened.”

“She remembers,” Wynonna said softly. “She’ll never forget that, trust me. I think she’s just… angry. And she’s decided that the only way to handle that anger is to fix this whole situation, to pay Bobo off, so that we can get vengeance on him for what he’s done.”

Willa chuckled quietly and put down a card. “You and I are good with anger. We should’ve taught her a few tricks when we were kids.”

“Oh, no, she’s already got those tricks. Remember when she was nine and Steph Edwards started bullying Chrissy Nedley? Remember what Waverly did to her?”

“Uh…” Willa took a sip of whiskey, thinking. “Oh, hell, Waverly punched Steph in face, didn’t she?”

“Mhm.” Wynonna grinned gleefully and took the bottle back. “Champ Hardy came over to try to be hero and, I don’t know, rescue Steph so that she’d date him- boy was a tool even when he was ten –and Waverly just punched him too.”

Willa shook her head slowly, a small grin on her face. “That was the only time Waverly ever got suspended. Gus tried to be mad but Uncle Curtis pointed out that she punched awfully well for such a little thing, and Gus couldn’t stop laughing long enough to punish her.”

“Little did they know that we had taught her how to punch by wrestling with her when she was seven. The only way a seven-year-old can reliably escape a thirteen-year-old is by a solid punch to the face. She learned quick.”

“God, we were a bad influence on her,” Willa laughed.

“I think we still might be,” Wynonna murmured, picking the cards up to shuffle them.

“She volunteered for this, Wynonna. She’s in it all the way just like we are. Don’t give her more credit than she deserves. Her shotgun has real bullets in it. She’s just as screwed as you and I are.”

“I know. I just wish it didn’t have to be that way.”

Willa looked away, her eyes shadowed as she took another drink. “I think we all wish that.”


	4. (Take Me To Church) I'll Worship Like A Dog

_Willa and I were practically twins growing up. She’s only a year older than me. I don’t remember a time without her._

_Daddy expected more from her than he ever did from me, just because she was the oldest. But it never damaged our time together. It never damaged our bond, or how much we took care of each other._

_What did put a bit of a wedge between us was Waverly._

_She’s six years younger than me. The baby of the family. But unlike most families, the baby of the family wasn’t the one that got the most love._

_I mentioned earlier that Daddy ignored her? It wasn’t only him. Mama spent the four years she stuck around in Waverly’s life pretending that Wave was nothing more than an inconvenience. And Willa…_

_Honestly, I have no idea what the hell Willa’s problem was with Waverly. She’s our baby sister. We’re supposed to love her. Protect her._

_Whenever I played with her, that tiny thing that was far more determined and brave than any small little thing has any busy being, Willa always acted… jealous. She’d ruin Waverly’s toys just to get Waverly to do things for her. I have my suspicions that worse things happened that Waverly never admitted to me. Or that I was just too blind to see._

_I love my sisters. **Both** of my sisters._

_I just wish that was enough for them._

 

+++

 

**JULY 14 - LABRADOR CITY, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, CANADA**

 

“ _Police aren’t confirming yet whether this latest robbery is connected to the string of bank robberies that have been committed across the Canada and the United States in the past few months, but anonymous sources are suggesting that-_ ”

“-news reporters only know how to read information off of a title card,” Willa finished, rolling her eyes at the television and taking a swig of beer.

“That’s not… _entirely fair_ ,” Waverly said slowly. “They have to collect information at scenes and write it into concise and comprehensible scripts that fit within airtime, sometimes only minutes before they go live.”

“Who cares, exactly?”

“Guys, stop.” Wynonna fidgeted with her glass of whiskey, frowning. “We should’ve been smarter about this. We should’ve done better with setting up various M.O.s so that the police couldn’t connect our robberies together.”

“We didn’t have a choice,” Waverly pointed out. “We came up with a system that worked. Going against that is only going to get us caught. We can’t afford to do that.”

Wynonna ran a hand through her hair and gave a frustrated sigh. “Okay, well, how much do we have? In total?”

“Two hundred fifteen thousand four hundred American dollars.”

Waverly’s response caused Wynonna to give a pained groan. “That’s not nearly enough. And we’re already a third of the way through our list.”

Willa shrugged. “We’ll just have to do better.”

“How? Be more reckless? We’re out of options, Willa.” Waverly put her notebook in her bag and rubbed her temples. “I don’t know if we can do this.”

“We aren’t even halfway through. You guys can’t bail now.”

“We can’t bail _at all_ ,” Waverly snapped. “That doesn’t mean we can’t be tired of it all.”

Willa snorted and rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “You guys need to drink more.”

“Trust me,” Wynonna muttered, pouring more whiskey into her glass. “I’ve considered it.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 15 – LES ESCOUMINS, QUEBEC, CANADA**

“There is so much French in Quebec,” Wynonna commented, slumped down in the backseat under a blanket and staring out the back window of the SUV Willa was driving.

“That’s sort of how it works, Wy. Just because you never bothered to learn French doesn’t mean it’s not one of our official languages.”

“Shut up, Wave. Just because you know like sixteen languages, you think you can judge me?”

“”Uh, excuse me, five and a half. Five and a half languages.”

Wynonna squinted at her. “Five and a half?”

“English, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, and a tiny bit of Japanese. Five and a half.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You’re illiterate.”

“ _WOW, WAVERLY, WOW._ ”

“Is this what it sounds like when Waverly and I fight?” Willa asked tiredly from the driver’s seat.

Wynonna shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Mm.” Willa turned the dial up on the radio and started blasting techno music.

“Why,” Waverly asked, less of a question than a statement. “Why.”

“To make you both suffer.”

“It’s working.”

Wynonna groaned and buried herself under her blanket. “Wake me when we get to Fredericton. Or shoot me. I would accept either.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 16 - LABRADOR CITY, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, CANADA**

 

“We are always one step behind these guys,” Dolls said in frustration, throwing his pen across the room. “We need to get ahead of them, but I can’t make sense of their pattern. It’s all over their place.”

Nicole, sitting in a chair with her feet up on a table, studying a printout of the map Dolls was staring at, shrugged. “Which would suggest that there isn’t a pattern.”

“Bank robbers have to have _some_ plan. They can’t be making this up as they go. They’re too organized. They haven’t left a single damn piece of actual evidence behind.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s a planned lack of pattern.” Nicole pointed at the map. “Every time it looks like they’re going in one direction, they go in a different one. Every time they start lingering in America, they cross the border. Whoever put this together is a genius. There’s no way for us to ever guess where they’ll head to next, because other then ‘probably a major city in North America’, it’s all random.”

Dolls scoffed and sat down. “Well, that’s great, but then how do we catch them?”

She smiled. “Ask nicely?”

“Is that how it works in Canada?”

“It did sometimes on _Flashpoint_.”

Lucado entered the room like an angry hurricane and smacked Nicole’s feet off of the table. “Just got a call. There’s a bank robbery going down in Fredericton.”

“Where’s that?”

“New Brunswick,” Nicole replied. “Something like eighteen hours away.”

“Jesus. Do these people never sleep?”

“If they don’t, they are awfully good at getting away with crime for people who are suffering from exhaustion.” Nicole stood, closing her case folder. “We should get going. We’ll have another trip almost as soon as we get there.”

Dolls frowned at her. “What makes you say that?”

“Weren’t you listening?” Nicole smiled slightly and headed for the door. “They’ll be back in America before we can even get on the road.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 17 – HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA**

Wynonna slipped into the driver’s seat of the sedan and started it up as Waverly got into the backseat and Willa got into the passenger’s seat. “Well, that’s three Canadian robberies in a row. We’re going to start getting a reputation.”

“Next one is Miami. And we’re going to stay there for three days.”

“Oo, _vacation_.”

Waverly snorted. “Sure, Wynonna. Vacation.”

Willa smirked and looked back at her. “Wynonna just wants some sunshine. Maybe a little sand. A cute boy she can seduce. You know, the usual.”

“What’s the point of going to Miami if we aren’t going to have a little fun while we’re there? Come on, guys.”

Waverly rolled her eyes and put her sunglasses on. “Sure, Wynonna, you can pick somebody up in a bar or something. Just remember that we have a thirty-five hour drive, first.”

“You have to ruin everything, don’t you?”

“Always. At least you have the bar hookup to look forward to.”

Wynonna glanced back at her, smirking. “You don’t want one for yourself?”

Waverly scoffed and put earbuds in. “I think I’ll pass.”


	5. Can't (Raise Hell) With A Saint

_When I was a kid I got a… reputation, you could say._

_My dad was dead, my mom was gone, I had been institutionalized for, uh, “issues”, and I just didn’t care about anything anymore. I acted out. I got in trouble. I landed in juvie more times than I care to admit. I was that girl in high school who you thought would cut you yet boys always wanted to make out with anyway._

_No offense, but teenage boys have no common sense at all._

_Willa was a loner. No enemies, fewer friends. She got arrested with me a few times, but for the most part she just stayed silent._

_Then there’s Waverly. The goddamn angel of Purgatory._

_The kid had to go through a lot, dealing with her last name and my reputation. But she was the good one. She stayed clean, she never got in trouble, she aced all her classes, she dated one boy in high school and never really dated anybody else. She was destined to have a normal life. A real life._

_Our father’s legacy, a psychotic gangster, and our love for our town ruined her chance._

 

+++

 

**JULY 22 – MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.A.**

Waverly pulled the convertible to a stop a few blocks down from their next target. “I know this is Miami, but who picked a pink convertible? It’s not exactly a subtle getaway car.”

“I think Miami was… Doc.”

“Oh, of _course_ that jackass would pick this thing. It’s right up his alley. The man can barely drive and he still think he has taste.” Wynonna scoffed and opened her door. “Next time I see him, I’m punching him.”

“I’d pay to see that,” Waverly commented. “Now go on. Make money. Good luck.”

“Don’t be late to the pickup spot,” Willa said.

“Never am, Will.”

“Yet.”

Waverly rolled her eyes and turned up the radio as her sisters got out of the car.

 

+++

 

**JULY 23 –MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.A.**

“I’m going to a club and getting wasted,” Willa said as she pulled a blouse over her head. “Who’s with me?”

“If you didn’t suggest it, I was going to. Hell yes.” Wynonna hung on Waverly, resting her head on her little sister’s shoulder. “Are you coming, Waves?”

“No. I’m not getting involved in whatever shenanigans you two are going to do.”

“Boring.”

“Don’t get arrested.”

Wynonna and Willa flipped her off in sync and headed out the door.

Once they were gone, Waverly spent about thirty minutes continuing to study her notebook. Then she sighed and decided to get out of her room for at least a little while. She picked up a purse that held money, her Miami segment I.D., and a gun, and headed out to the streets.

 

+++

 

The Miami bar was quieter than any club her sisters had found, but crowded enough that she wouldn’t draw too much attention to herself as an outsider. Not a hotspot for locals, but not a packed tourist spot, either. It was the smart choice. Or, at least, it seemed like it was.

Waverly spun her beer bottle on the counter slowly, watching it rotate as she tried to calculate out how much more money they needed. As the numbers piled up in her head, she spun the bottle too hard, almost causing it to spill. At the last moment, it was caught by the woman who had leaned next to her.

“I’m not sure getting the alcohol all over you is the best way to get drunk,” the woman said with a small grin.

“Hey, you’d be surprised how intoxicating the scent of cheap beer can be,” Waverly joked, mirroring her grin. She glanced down, quickly sizing the woman up. Redhead, athletic, black t-shirt, dark jeans, black boots that unfairly made her even taller than she already was.

Not a bad sight.

The woman gave a bright laugh. “I’ll take your word for it.” She held out a hand. “Hot.”

“Yeah, from what I can tell, it’s always hot in Florida.”

“No; that’s my name. Haught. Nicole Haught. H-A-U-G-H-T.”

“That can’t be how you actually pronounce it.”

Nicole’s brow furrowed, but her smile never faded as she absentmindedly took a sip from Waverly’s beer bottle. “Making fun of me already? You’re tough, aren’t you?”

Waverly shrugged. “I’m trying to cover up the fact that I actually thought you were talking about the weather.”

“I promise to forget about it if you do.”

“I’m cool with that.” Waverly raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I’m _cool_.”

“Uh-huh,” Nicole said, taking another drink.

“But my _name_ is Waverly.” She almost winced. She had no idea why she had chosen to give this woman her real name. They had dozens of aliases, a new one for each new I.D., and they never used their real names.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Waverly,” Nicole replied, not noticing the other woman’s slight discomfort.

“I see that. You’re stealing my beer.”

Nicole looked down at the bottle in her hand and quickly set it down, flushing slightly. “Ah… sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Waverly leaned towards her, grinning. “If you wanted me to buy you a drink, Nicole, you could’ve just _asked_.”

After a momentary pause, a downright adorable smile formed on Nicole’s face. “Will… you buy me a drink?”

“Already bought you one,” Waverly pointed out, signaling the bartender to replace the beer Nicole was playing with. “I would not, however, be opposed to buying you another. Or, maybe, several. Depending on how you play your cards.”

“I never was good at cards,” Nicole admitted.

“Neither was I.” Waverly tapped her new beer bottle against Nicole’s. “But I’m sure we can figure it out.”

 

+++

 

The bar had private rooms for drinking with friends, and after an unnecessary amount of money tossed at the bartender by Waverly, she and Nicole found themselves in one alone and borderline drunk.

“Okay, okay, I’ve got one for you. Favorite cryptid.”

“Loch Ness Monster,” Waverly said immediately.

Nicole laughed. “Why?”

“It’s a _classic_. Plus, I mean, the fakes for it are hilarious, plus Loch Ness is so large that if Nessie is an _immortal dinosaur_ then she could totally hide herself in it forever.”

“Those are fair reasons.”

Waverly shifted closer to Nicole. “What’s yours?”

“Jersey Devil.”

“Also a weird choice. Why?”

“Because it sounds threatening in all of the stories and it’s a pretty legitimately scary concept but the picture that everybody uses of it is _ridiculous_. It looks so _stupid_.”

“I can totally agree with that,” Waverly laughed. “Oh, but we’re both in agreement that ghosts are real, right?”

“Absolutely. Without question.”

“Fabulous.” Nicole put her beer bottle down and shifted back on the couch, accidentally brushing against Waverly as she did. “I-I… Sorry. I’m sorry.”

“It’s… more than okay.”

“… Okay.”

After a moment, Waverly yanked her forward and kissed her.

It was brief, and she released Nicole quickly.

“I-I’m extremely sorry about that. The alcohol is starting to get to my head. This is awkward now.”

“Oh, trust me,” Nicole said in a soft voice. “It’s not awkward.”

“Right. Uh.” Waverly leaned back, flushing red. “I, uh. Should we _stop_ drinking, or should we drink _more_?”

“I suppose that depends on-.”

Waverly didn’t hear her. Her gaze had shifted out to the television playing idly on the wall, running the FBI’s press conference on the bank robberies for the millionth time that day. To the cop standing off to the side as the blonde agent spoke at the podium.

Son of a bitch.

She _knew_ that the woman talking to her had looked familiar.

She was just too _stupid_ to realize why.

Waverly bolted to her feet and pulled her gun out of her bag, aiming it at Nicole. The woman saw the gun and reacted instinctively, pulling a gun out from a holster on her ankle.

“How did you know?” Waverly demanded.

“Know what?” Nicole asked as she stood, bafflement on her face.

“Don’t _fuck with me_. How did you _know who I am_?”

Nicole swallowed, realization and shock forming in her eyes. “Oh, son of a bitch. You’re one of them. You robbed that bank today.”

The realization that the cop had no idea what she was talking about sunk in slowly. And painfully.

“Oh,” Waverly whispered. “Well, this is unusually stupid of me.” She swallowed, tightening her grip on her handgun. “And I guess now it _is_ awkward.”


	6. Hope That It Finds You (Before The Flood)

_You probably don’t believe that we didn’t know who Nicole was when Waverly met her. But it’s the truth. Believe me, Waverly would never have intentionally met a cop, especially not one who was part of a team trying to track us down._

_What I said about fate? There might have been a little bit of fate involved in our lives._

_That’s the only explanation I can think of for how Waverly and Nicole could’ve met, two people like them finding each other in one bar in a city as big as Miami. How they could’ve…_

_Well, I suppose you’ve already figured that much out._

 

+++

 

**JULY 23 –MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.A.**

 

“Hey, have you talked to Waverly?” Wynonna asked as she sat down at a table across from Willa.

Willa looked up from her whiskey. “I haven’t exactly tried.”

“I tried to call her and it went to voicemail. She’s never without her phone.”

“Did you call the right number? Or did you call the Halifax phone?”

Wynonna shook her head, biting her lip. “I called the right number. She just didn’t answer.”

“I’m sure she’s fine, Wy. She can take care of herself. She’s an adult.”

“ _Barely._ ”

“’Nonna. She’s _fine_.”

Wynonna lifted her glass of whiskey and sighed. “She had better be.”

 

+++

 

“You seemed nice, too,” Nicole said dryly, her gun pointed at Waverly’s chest.

“Is everything a joke to you?”

“No, but everything _is_ an opportunity for sarcasm.” Nicole shook her head slowly. “Do you even realize how much damage you’ve done? How many people you’ve terrified? Waving guns in people’s faces?”

“I’ve never threatened anyone.” Waverly hesitated. “Aside from you, right now.”

“That would mean-” Nicole’s eyes widened. “There’s three of you. Two doing the robberies and you as… what, getaway driver?”

Waverly closed her eyes briefly. “You know, I said once that I’d never give any information up. That’s going really well for me.” She took a step away from Nicole. “Look, you don’t know anything about me, okay? You don’t know anything about these robberies. You might think you do, but you don’t. So just back off.”

“Oh, sure, I’ll just let you walk on out of here so that you can go back to your crime spree.”

“That would be awesome, thanks.”

Waverly reached for her bag with one hand, and Nicole raised her gun a bit more. “Don’t. Just don’t. I have no patience for criminals fueled by greed.”

“Greed.” Waverly laughed, a low, sarcastic laugh that held a surprising amount of pain. “You really think we’re doing this for _greed_?”

“You’ve stolen over three hundred thousand dollars. What other reason is there?”

“How about the fact that the Del Ray family has been running guns and drugs and God knows what else out of my hometown since my great-great grandfather lived there? How about the fact that they’ve been tormenting the people living in my town for a century? How about the fact that my father made a deal with one of the Del Rays to leave my town alone for a million dollars and the bastard took it, took the money, and then murdered my father in front of me and my sisters for no good reason?” Waverly’s voice dropped to a furious growl. “How about the _fact_ that the _new_ Del Ray took over my hometown and made a new deal? That the only way the people just trying to scrape by and live their lives in my home will all be _slaughtered_ to make room for his illegal activities unless we can give him ten million dollars, because my father’s deal wasn’t _good enough_?”

Nicole lowered her gun slightly, stunned speechless by the pain and rage in the other woman’s words.

“Is that greed, Nicole? Is it?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole admitted quietly.

Waverly’s boldness faltered. She lowered her gun and sat back down on the couch. “We’re just… trying,” she whispered. “I know it’s wrong. I know you’re going to arrest me. But we’re trying.”

Nicole walked over and leaned against the wall, running a hand over her face and lowering her gun to her side. After a lengthy pause, she murmured, “I’m a little buzzed. My brain’s all screwed up from… several things. I was drinking while carrying, which I’m not supposed to do. And I… None of that explains what’s going on in my head right now, but I…” Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “Just go.”

Waverly stared at her, slack-jawed. “What?”

“ _GO!_ ”

Without another word Waverly grabbed her bag, shoved her gun into it, and scrambled out of the room. Nicole sunk down until she was sitting on the floor and rested her face in her hands.

“Oh, God,” she whispered. “What did I just do?”

 

+++

 

**JULY 24 – HOUSTON, TEXAS, U.S.A.**

 

Wynonna and Willa chatted happily in the front seat of the sedan they were eating their lunch in, not paying much attention to the heavy silence coming from the back seat. After about twenty minutes of glancing back into the mirror to see her neither eat nor drink, Wynonna finally asked, “What’s up with you?”

“Huh?” Waverly looked up slowly, distraction clear in her eyes.

“You’ve been acting weird ever since we were in Miami. What’s wrong?”

“Oh. N-Nothing. I’m fine. I guess I’m just tired.” She gave a nervous laugh. “And I’m thrilled with what we have planned as the next stop.”

“Really?” Wynonna gave a grunt of annoyance. “I’ve never found Mexico that enjoyable, honestly. Puerto Vallarta isn’t bad. Everywhere else isn’t really to my tastes.”

“Snob,” Willa muttered.

“Yeah, well, I just think it’s good for us to do another border jump. Y’know, that we’re throwing them off their game a bit. Keeping them on their toes.”

“Uh huh.” Wynonna turned back to look at her, frowning as she chewed on a French fry. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Waverly chewed on the straw of her soda. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Yeah, Wynonna, I’m fine.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 24 – MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.A.**

 

“I envy you,” Dolls said, sitting down across from Nicole as she stared blankly at a case file.

“Why?”

“I wish that I could give Lucado as much sass as you do.”

Nicole gave a faint smile but didn’t look up. “Well, you _could_.”

“She’s my superior. I need to respect her as a general rule, plus she could fire me.”

“Yeah, and I get the impression that she’s not the joking type.”

Dolls snorted. “Not particularly.”

Nicole was silent for a moment, staring down at the map of bank robberies. “Agent Dolls, have you ever decided to do something that you aren’t sure was the right choice? That might’ve been something terrible?”

“All the time. Why?”

“I think I’ve done that, and I’m not quite sure what to do about it.” Nicole licked her lips, a stress twitch that her sister had always used against her to tell when she was lying. “I’m not saying that I’ve done something _wrong_ , I’m just not positive I did something _right_.”

“Constable Haught, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Ah, well, it’s acceptable then.”

Nicole stared at him. “… _What’s_ acceptable?”

Dolls gave one of his patented humorless smirks. “You’re young enough that it’s acceptable for the answer to that question to not be obvious.”

“Okay. So what’s the answer?”

Dolls stood and pulled a quarter out of his pocket for a soda. “The answer, Constable, is that sometimes there _is_ no answer. That’s why we just have to trust our own decisions. It’s what makes us good cops.”

Once he had gone, Nicole gave a dry laugh. “Yeah,” she said miserably. “I’m a _great_ cop.”

 

+++

 

**JULY 29 – CHIHUAHUA CITY, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO**

 

The three Earp sisters lounged by their hotel pool, sipping drinks and chatting about their robberies in increasingly ludicrous metaphors. By the time Wynonna was referring to their total haul as ‘that time of the month’ and Willa had pushed Waverly into the pool twice, they were drunk off their asses and in serious need of naps. They pulled themselves together enough to begin to make their way back to their room, giggling loudly and shushing each other even louder.

None of them noticed the man on the opposite side of the grounds, camera in one hand and phone in the other, taking pictures of them as they walked.


	7. Paved With (Good Intentions)

_Bobo Del Ray’s father made a deal with mine. A million dollars for the safety of Purgatory. My father lied and cheated and bargained and stole to get that money for him._

_He earned the town a temporary reprieve, and he earned himself two bullets to the head right in front of my sisters and me._

_My father wasn’t a great man. I wouldn’t even call him a good one. But he protected his town in the only way he knew how._

_That’s what we tried to do. What we’ve wanted to do. Purgatory is everything for us. It’s the only thing we have. The people in it are our lives, and without them, without our home… what are we?_

_If hell exists, we’ll go there for the people we burned to save our own interests. But the fact of the matter is that I don’t give a shit. I’d burn the whole damn country to the ground if it protected Purgatory and my sisters._

_I don’t owe that town anything. But I can’t just let it go, either._

_It’s home._

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 1, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A.**

 

Waverly had gotten uneasy again the moment they crossed the border back into the United States. She drummed her fingers incessantly against the steering wheel as she drove into Santa Fe, biting her lip and glancing in the rearview mirror far more often than was necessary.

“Dude, you’re driving me crazy,” Willa groaned from the backseat.

“S-Sorry,” Waverly stammered.

“Hey.” Wynonna reached over, running a hand over Waverly’s hair. “What’s wrong, baby girl? Come on. Something’s up; I can tell.”

“I… think somebody might’ve recognized me,” Waverly mumbled.

Willa sat up immediately, gripping the back of Waverly’s seat. “What? Where?”

“When we were in Miami, I went out to a bar. And I… think somebody recognized me. Realized who I was.”

“Jesus Christ, Waverly, why didn’t you _say something_?”

“What was I supposed to say?” Waverly asked, her voice snapping. “We can’t stop what we’re doing. We can’t afford to. Unless you magically found ten million dollars under your seat?”

Willa smacked her in the back of the head. “Do not _sass me_ when _you’re_ the one who put this whole thing at risk.”

“Look, just calm down, okay? You said you _think_ somebody recognized you. So you aren’t sure, right, Waves?”

Waverly swallowed, thankful that her sunglasses hid the way her eyes narrowed. “Yeah. I’m not sure.”

“Well, then, relax. We’re in a completely different city now. I’m sure you’re in the clear.”

“Positive?” Waverly asked with a sigh.

“Positive.” Wynonna laughed and picked up the GPS to check the distance to their motel. “And if not, well, we’ll just kill you to silence you.”

Waverly gave a dry, humorless laugh. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“I do,” Willa grumbled as she leaned back and tried to go to sleep again.

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 2, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, U.S.A.**

 

“I’m exhausted,” Wynonna complained, walking into their motel room, casually tossing her handgun onto her duffel bag on the floor, and collapsing face-first onto her bed.

“We have an eleven hour drive to San Antonio.”

“Fuck you, Waverly.”

“Seriously, we don’t leave until tomorrow. Don’t ruin the day. It was actually a good one.” Willa dropped onto her own bed, setting her gun on the nightstand.

“Oh, okay, okay. I’ll leave you guys alone.”

“Where are you going?” Wynonna asked immediately, anxiety in her voice.

“Relax, Wy, I’ll be fine. I’m just going to go out for a bit. Take a nap.”

“Not gonna argue with that,” Wynonna mumbled, rolling over to face the wall.

Waverly shouldered her bag and walked out of the room.

 

+++

 

“Well, if anything, we’re getting really good at following in their footsteps,” Nicole said dryly as she, Dolls, and Lucado stood in the bank that marked the nineteenth robbery. “Although we didn’t go to Mexico. What if there was evidence there?”

Lucado kicked over a trashcan angrily. “There isn’t. There’s _never_ any _goddamn evidence_.”

Nicole watched the trashcan roll across the marble floor. “You have a very interesting method of searching crime scenes, Agent Lucado.”

“Shut the _fuck up_ , Constable.”

Lucado stormed off to interrogate the local police, and Dolls shook his head slowly. “She’s going to shoot you one of these days, Haught.”

“I think I’d be okay with that.”

Lucado started screaming at a local officer, and Dolls flinched. “I should go calm that down.”

“Good luck. I’m going to go outside and take a look at what kind of crowd’s gathered.”

Nicole stepped outside into the heat and pulled irritably at the collar of her uniform. As she fidgeted with the top button of her shirt, she scanned the crowd in front of the bank.

And froze.

For a moment, she thought she was imagining it. While she had figured that the woman from the Miami bar… the _bank robber_ … had been the cause of the crime scene she was standing at, she would never have thought that she’d see her standing at the back of the crowd of spectators, watching her.

Nicole wasn’t sure what to make of it. She wasn’t sure she liked the idea of Waverly hanging around the crime scene.

And she _really_ didn’t like the fluttering feeling in her stomach when they made eye contact.

Once she knew that Nicole had seen her, Waverly jerked her head towards a coffee shop down the street. Then she turned and disappeared into the crowd.

 

+++

 

“I should arrest you,” Nicole murmured in Waverly’s ear as she walked past her and sat down at her table in the coffee shop.

“You probably should,” Waverly admitted.

“What the hell are you doing coming back to a crime scene?”

Waverly was silent for a moment, sipping an iced hot chocolate. “I haven’t seen my name or picture in the news. I don’t hear sirens. You haven’t pulled your gun. You haven’t regretted letting me go?”

“Oh, trust me, I have.”

“Then why aren’t you making up for it?”

Nicole paused, licking her lips anxiously and fidgeting with a napkin. “I… don’t know. It’s killing me, honestly.”

Waverly’s brow furrowed, concern flickering into her eyes. “Why?”

“What do you mean _why_?” Nicole hissed. “I _let you go_. I betrayed my badge, I betrayed everything that I swore to when I became a cop, I…” She swallowed, struggling to find the right words. “ _I committed actual crime, Waverly_.”

“Only like _minor_ crime.”

Nicole gave a soft groan and put her face in her hands.

Waverly hesitated before reaching out and resting her fingers lightly against Nicole’s elbow. “I’m sorry about all of this, Constable. I really am.”

“Wow, you’re probably the first person in this country who has ever gotten my rank right the first time.”

“I’m the brains of the operation.”

Nicole gave a dry laugh and lowered her hands. “I find that hard to believe, since you’re the one who spilled your entire motive to me.”

“In my defense, I was hoping it would make you not arrest me.”

“It worked,” Nicole murmured.

“Why? If I could ask.”

“You sounded honest.”

“I was _being_ honest.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t get that often. It doesn’t excuse your actions. But I understand why, if what everything you said was true, you’d think those actions were correct.”

“Robbing banks was our only option.”

“So you’ve said. But I need more evidence than that.”

Waverly raised an eyebrow and leaned back in her chair, sipping her drink until she just got air. “Why? Are you not going to arrest me if I coax enough sympathy out of you?”

“I’ve considered it.”

“You aren’t a very good cop, Constable.”

“Usually I am.” Nicole sighed, toying with her name badge. “Something about you just keeps making me forget it.”

“Aw, do you have a crush on me, Constable?”

Nicole snorted and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. “Arresting you is still an option.”

“Little early to start talking handcuffs, don’t you think?” Waverly winced, flushed red, and ran a hand over her face. “I’m so sorry. That just came out.”

“Mhm. Do you want to go to jail?”

“I’d really rather not.” Waverly stared at Nicole for a moment, allowing herself to momentarily take in what the other woman looked like in her uniform. Then she cleared her throat, looked down at the table, and said, “My town’s being held hostage by a criminal organization that the police have never been able to touch. They’ll kill or hurt everyone if we don’t get them ten million dollars by the winter.” Waverly rubbed at her eyes. “They already killed my uncle to make sure we got the message that they were serious. We don’t have any other options, any other solutions. All we have is this.”

“I’m sorry about your uncle,” Nicole said softly. “And your town. But you must realize that this is no solution. You’ve turned yourself into a criminal. You’re a _thief_. When all is said an done, this person, the one who’s taken over your town, is doing nothing but trying to bring you down to his level.”

Waverly gave a quiet laugh. “I know. I realized that a long time ago. I just don’t care.”

Nicole smiled thinly. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions, huh?”

“Yes, and the foundation of heaven is the bones of those people that the good sacrificed for the sake of morality.”

“Not a very uplifting outlook on life. And not quite as catchy.”

“Perhaps. But I’d sacrifice my freedom, my life, my _soul_ for the people I care about. If that’s what it takes, I’d give it all up willingly. And I’ll accept a place on the path to hell for that.” Waverly paused. “Would you?”

Nicole made unreadable eye contact with her for what felt like an eternity. Then she gave a long, slow sigh and looked down at her hands. “You know,” she said carefully, “I think I would.”


	8. Looking For (New Blood)

_When I was thirteen, Willa and I broke into the local bar._

_We didn’t steal any money. We didn’t even drink any alcohol. We just sat behind the counter and directed the soda gun directly into our mouths and talked about how unfair everything was. How shitty and stupid and worthless our lives were._

_The guy who owned the bar, Shorty, he found us in the morning, piled on top of each other sound asleep. Instead of calling the cops, or even calling Gus and Curtis, he just grabbed us by the backs of our shirts, dragged us out from behind the counter, and put us on two of the barstools._

_And then he made us breakfast, and told us to make better life choices._

_We managed to, for a few months. But when you’re us, it’s a bit hard to follow through on a promise like that. It’s just never as easy as it sounds like it does to a thirteen-year-old kid sleepily eating toast in a bar._

_In the end, we were the perfect targets for Bobo Del Ray. Too good to not try to help our town. Too bad to find a better way to do it._

_There’s no excuse for what we’ve done. I’ve already accepted that I need to be punished for it._

_I just wish I could’ve kept my sisters from being punished worse._

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 6 – JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, U.S.A.**

 

Waverly was so much more relaxed after Santa Fe that when they got to Jacksonville after the San Antonio robbery, she actually let Willa choose where they stopped for dinner.

“What’s wrong with you?” Wynonna demanded as they walked into the restaurant and sat down.

“You keep asking me that question. Why is it that no matter what I do, you think something’s wrong?”

Wynonna jabbed a finger into Waverly collarbone. “Because you’re acting _weird_ no matter what you do. You let Willa pick the food. The number one rule in this sisterhood is that _Willa never picks the food_.”

“Screw you too, Wynonna,” Willa grumbled.

“You think a Greek salad is a _meal_. I can’t even believe we’re _related_.”

Willa rolled her eyes. “I’m going to outlive both of you.”

“Oh, cut it out. Wynonna, Willa can pick the food _once_. And there’s _nothing wrong with me_ , okay?” Waverly picked up her menu and started scanning through it, trying to forget the prickling sensation that went up her spine every time she thought about Constable Nicole Haught.

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 7 – MOBILE, ALABAMA, U.S.A.**

 

Wynonna watched, smiling faintly, as Waverly and Willa raced each other back and forth in a local park they had stopped in. For a moment, at times like this, it was easy for her to forget what they were doing. To forget that this wasn’t some silly family road trip across North America. To forget that she had a gun holstered at the small of her back.

They weren’t even close to their required total. In her heart, she knew they’d never get there. But she also knew that none of them would ever stop trying until it was clearly, definitely over.

She pulled out the burner phone that she had for the ride between Jacksonville and Phoenix and punched in a number that she knew by heart. It was answered after only a few rings.

“ _Holliday._ ”

“Christmas.”

Wynonna could almost hear the grin forming on Henry ‘Doc’ Holliday’s face as their inside joke hit his ears.

“ _Well if it isn’t my favorite criminal._ ”

“No, it’s Wynonna, not Waverly.”

Doc laughed. “ _You give yourself too little credit._ ”

“It’s a bad habit.” Wynonna took a sip from her milkshake. “How’s the weather up there?”

“ _According to the Internet, Purgatory’s a sunny twenty-seven degrees._ ”

“I’ve been in America too long,” Wynonna deadpanned. “Isn’t that cold?”

Doc chuckled again. “ _Google it, Earp._ ”

“Hold up,” Wynonna said, turning slightly as sharp, loud laughter echoed over from her sisters. “Why would you need to look up the weather? You usually just walk outside and, like, smell it, or something.”

“ _I made a road trip._ ”

Wynonna paused, a grin slowly forming on her face. “What kind of road trip?”

“ _Somebody told me Phoenix was nice this time of year._ ”

“You’re coming to Phoenix?” Wynonna almost yelled it, and flinched as Waverly and Willa both turned to stare at her.

“ _I missed my favorite trio of lawbreakers._ ”

“Oh, God, it’ll be nice to see you. I’m starting to go stir crazy with only these two idiots to keep me company.”

“ _They’re not that bad._ ”

“You haven’t been with them for… how long has it been?”

“ _Almost two months, I think._ ”

“Jesus. Please be in Phoenix. I think I may murder my sisters soon otherwise.”

She could hear the grin in his voice as he said, “ _I’ll see you in Phoenix, Wynonna._ ”

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 8 – SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, U.S.A.**

 

Dolls waved a hand in thanks as Nicole set a cup of coffee next to him, too engrossed in the folder in front of him to say anything to her. She sat across from him for a few minutes before asking, “What do you got?”

“A whole lot of nothing, but that’s kind of what’s so suspicious.”

“What do you mean?”

He gestured at the folder and looked up at her. “I looked at every single entry and exit between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico before and after the robberies that crossed borders.”

Nicole tried to avoid the obvious nervous twitch in her hands as she folded them in front of her. “And?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“There is not a single name that matches for every robbery. And of the names that match for _some_ of them, it’s all business people or other people that have perfectly reasonable explanations for crossing often.”

“So they have aliases that they use.”

Dolls gave a dry laugh. “Well, sure, but none of them match in _any direction_. There’s not a person who enters Canada and then leaves later. How many aliases could they possibly have?”

“Maybe they have a lot. And maybe they have less questions at the border because they do what I do.”

He squinted at her. “What you do?”

Nicole shrugged. “Yeah, I have two passports. Dual citizenship, Canada and America. I use the Canadian one to enter Canada and the American one to enter the States.”

“Why do you have that?”

“Uh, because my dad was born and raised in South Dakota? My mom’s from Calgary and I grew up there, but I’m still half American.”

“Okay but what if they are doing what you do. Two passports. Multiple aliases. How do they handle having that many I.D.s and that much cash? Somebody would have to notice eventually, right?”

“Not if they’re storing it,” Nicole murmured.

“Storage.” Dolls got to his feet. “Come on, Haught.”

“… Where?”

“We’re going to see if anybody’s rented a storage unit in San Antonio in the past seventy-two hours.”

Nicole stood and followed Dolls, wishing more than anything that she didn’t feel so guilty about the hope she was feeling.

Hope that they wouldn’t find anything.


	9. (Ne'er Do Wells) And Woebegones

_Doc got his nickname for being the go-to man in town for the top three solutions to life’s problems: moonshine, poker, and conversation. No matter what ailed you, Doc could find just the right fix for you._

_When I was eighteen, he and I broke out a secret fourth solution. Uncle Curtis almost shot Doc when he found out, but Gus stopped him. And then punched Doc in the face for his troubles._

_He’s not the greatest man in the world. And I certainly don’t love him. But he’s a good friend, and I trust few others the way I trust him. Doc has always been selfish and has always been looking to do anything for his own interests, but at the end of the day, he’ll always come back for a friend._

_That’s a rare gift in my world._

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 9 – PHOENIX, ARIZONA, U.S.A.**

 

“I bet you were expecting me to show up in Reno,” Doc said when Wynonna stepped out of the car.

“Hell yes. All that gambling? I can’t believe you managed to stay away.” Wynonna grinned as Waverly gave a squeak of delighted surprised and bounded out of the car to hug Doc. “How was the drive?”

“Awful,” he said as he hugged Waverly back. “I was alone and free to listen to whatever music I wanted and stop wherever I wanted.”

“You’re a dick, Holliday.”

Doc winked at her. “The best you’ve gotten, darling.”

“Gross, Henry,” Willa said as she walked over to them.

“I thought I was being clever.” Doc tipped his hat at them and gestured at the hotel. “Why don’t we catch up? Then I can see you ladies prepare for your… business… in town tomorrow.”

“You know us so well.”

 

+++

 

“So the guy goes to punch Doc and when he pulls his hand back, I grab his elbow-”

“-and remember now, this guy is about three times the size of Wynonna, so when he pulls his hand forward to punch, she just goes with him-”

“-right, and I wasn’t expecting it at all but I instinctively just jumped as I felt myself move forward-”

“-so I look up and see Wynonna with her legs wrapped around this guy’s waist and her arms around his neck-”

“-and I’m yelling for Doc to just punch him so he does, right in the face-”

“-except this guy is a literal mountain so the only thing that cracks is my hand. Like this guy doesn’t even move at all-”

“-like, not even a _millimeter_ of movement from this guy that just got punched square in the jaw-.”

“-I might as well have thrown a crumbled up piece of paper at him, and just when my life starts to flash before my eyes who walks in but _Sheriff Nedley_ -”

“-he was still a deputy back then but he walks in and sees me on this guy’s back, Doc standing there with a broken hand, and the school mascot just lying on the ground-”

“-and he just stares for a full minute and then tells us that he really doesn’t want to know-”

“-and if we leave in the next thirty seconds, he won’t _have_ to-”

“-so the guy takes off with Wynonna still on his back because he doesn’t want the cops to tell his grandmom that he had been fighting-”

“-and he accidentally rams my face _directly_ into the top of the doorframe.”

“So _that’s_ how you broke your nose your freshman year,” Waverly said, laughing. “You always refused to tell us!”

Wynonna shrugged. “Would _you_ want to tell that story?”

Willa smirked and glanced at Doc. “No, especially not if I failed that bad at punching somebody.”

“Look,” Doc said, “that guy was _huge_. I’m serious. I think he was secretly a professional bodybuilder. It was completely ridiculous.”

“If that’s your story and you want to stick to it, Henry.”

Doc took a sip of whiskey and grinned. “Thanks for your permission. I _will_.”

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 10 – PHOENIX, ARIZONA, U.S.A**

 

Doc stepped out onto the balcony of the hotel, leaning on the railing next to Waverly. “You guys are heading out tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah. If we can avoid skipping town the moment a robbery is over, we do. Less suspicious that way.”

“I know that, Wave. I was there when you were planning it, remember?”

Waverly rubbed at her eyes. “Right. Sorry. I forgot.”

“You seem tired,” he said softly.

“I’m not. Not really. I just… feel guilty, I guess.”

“This type of thing would weigh on anyone.”

“It’s not the crime,” she said, too quickly. When he raised an eyebrow, she sighed. “I need to tell you. I need to tell _someone_. But please, Doc, you can’t tell anyone. Not even my sisters.”

He nodded. “I swear.”

“I… I think I have feelings for a cop.”

Doc gave a low whistle. “Those are dangerous waters, Waverly. People in your line of work can’t afford crushes like that.”

“It gets worse. She’s on the task force trying to arrest us, specifically.”

For a long moment, Doc was just silent, staring out into the city. “That’s how people like us get themselves killed, Waverly. Or at the very least, how they end up in prison for a very long time. You can’t trust a cop when you’re a criminal, even if your crimes have good intentions. They’ll turn on you.”

“She’s not like that,” Waverly whispered. “I know she’s not like that. I don’t know _how_ I know. I just… I can feel it.”

Doc rested a hand on her back comfortingly and kissed her on the top of her head. “You’ve always had good judgment, Waverly. I won’t doubt you now. Just… be careful, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I promise you, Doc. I’ll be as careful as my heart can be.”

He gave a soft laugh. “You’re an Earp, Waverly. That’s not as comforting as you seem to think.”

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 15 – TWIN FALLS, IDAHO, U.S.A.**

 

“If we don’t stop getting ahead of these people, Lucado’s going to start actually shooting witnesses,” Dolls muttered as he shook his head and looked at the evidence board in front of him. “And the ‘witnesses’ might just be the two of us.”

“Sounds like a good time. Maybe she should start doing some work.”

Dolls snorted. “Yeah, try telling her that. See how long you last without a broken jaw.”

“Look, maybe you can try that storage angle again? I know we didn’t find anything in San Antonio, but-”

“It was just a bad idea, Haught. Don’t try to defend it. But thanks for the attempt.” He sighed and got up from his chair. “Do you want coffee?”

“No, thank you.”

As he walked out, a local cop walked in with a small package. “Nicole Haught?”

“Yes?”

“This arrived for you.”

Nicole took the package from him and opened it once he had left. Inside was a small burner phone. Nicole swallowed and picked it up, opening it and turning it on. There was only one number programmed into it.

She hit dial, and it only rang once.

“ _I’m glad my delivery got to you right on schedule._ ”

“Are you crazy? Sending mail to a police station?” Nicole lowered her voice. “Seriously, Waverly, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“ _I wanted a brief chat. We need to talk._ ”

“Yeah, I don’t think right now’s a good time.”

“ _You’re right. It’s not. 1823 Broadway._ ”

“What?”

“ _1823 Broadway._ ”

“I studied the maps of Twin Falls on our way here. That’s not an address. So what are you-”

Waverly’s laugh interrupted her. “ _I never said it was in Twin Falls._ ”

“… What?”

“ _Turn on the news, Constable. I’ll see you soon._ ”

Nicole lowered the phone slowly, confusion overwhelming reason in her head. Before she could process Waverly’s instructions, Dolls hurried back into the room.

“We have to go.”

“U-Uh. What?”

“Another robbery. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It’s a six and a half hour plane ride, so we need to leave _now_.”

“Right. Got it. I’ll be right there.”

As she started packing up her stuff, Nicole glanced at the phone in her hand.

_1823 Broadway._

Scottsbluff, Nebraska.


	10. Fell In Love In The Back Of A (Cop Car)

_Willa, Waverly, and I self-identify as Gryffindors. What that means, for us, is that we’re all pretty brave, but reckless beyond belief._

_Most people who meet Waverly only see the bright sunshine dork that she is when she introduces herself to you. That she is at heart, but the thing is that it’s not all she is._

_Waverly is absolutely my sister. She’s got that darkness, that anger, that snark, that heart, that goddamn reckless courage that can do nothing but doom her._

_When you combine that with how hard she loves? It can be disastrous._

_Waverly doesn’t love easy, but she loves strong._

_It hurts her sometimes._

_Other times… I dunno. I guess maybe the idiot kid is luckier than the rest of us._

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 16 – SCOTTSBLUFF, NEBRASKA, U.S.A.**

 

Nicole sat in her rental car in the parking lot of the address Waverly had given her, drumming her fingers on the lid of her coffee cup. She didn’t know why she had bothered to…

No, she knew. There was really no reason denying it anymore.

She knew.

After about twenty minutes, the back door of her car opened without warning, and Waverly got into the backseat.

“Hey.”

“How the _hell_ did you do that?” Nicole demanded, turning in her seat. “The door was locked.”

Waverly shrugged. “Thief.”

“You’re a bank robber, not a car thief.” Nicole narrowed her eyes. “Are you a car thief?”

“Maybe a little bit. It’s not important.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

“Where’s the phone I sent you?”

“It’s right here, but-”

Waverly took the phone from Nicole and snapped it in half.

“… Okay.”

“The number one rule is replacement. Here.” Waverly handed Nicole a new burner phone. “The only programmed number is the one for my next burner. We’ll talk about replacing that one you’re holding in a timely fashion later. Memorize the number and then delete it. You don’t want to get caught with a second cell phone that has the number of a bank robber in it, do you?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then you shouldn’t have any problem following the rules.”

Nicole sighed and took her sunglasses off. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“I hope not.” Waverly played with the strap of her bag. “That’s actually why I wanted to see you.”

Nicole laughed. “To kill me?”

“No, idiot. To make sure you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Nicole mumbled into her coffee cup.

“Because I could see it in you the last time we talked. It’s getting to you. Knowing who I am. Trying to rationalize that with your job as RCMP. You’re too good of a person to turn me in, but you’re too good of a cop to live with the decision.”

“I won’t say that I’m not struggling with it,” Nicole admitted, “but I can’t quite say I regret it, either.” She gave a soft laugh. “Besides, it’s not exactly like I’ve needed to cover for you. You guys are _good_.”

“Thank you. I take pride in my planning.”

“So _you’re_ the one who put all of this together?” Nicole turned more fully in her seat so that she could look at Waverly more easily. “You planned this crime spree?”

“Yeah. My sisters helped a little bit, but for the most part this was my idea. The zigzagging, the border crossing…”

“The aliases, passports from multiple countries?”

Waverly raised an eyebrow. “You do know a few things.”

“I’m smarter than I look.”

“Must be a genius, then.” Waverly grinned and shrugged. “My sisters aren’t bad at the robbing part. The brawns, you know? They just never would’ve been able to plan anything like this on their own.”

Nicole was silent for a moment. “You never mentioned before. That the people you were working with were your sisters.”

“I guess I didn’t trust you yet. I guess now I do.”

“Why?”

“You actually came here. And I don’t have a gun pointed at my face.”

“I think give our last conversation, you can believe that that’s not going to happen. If we ever reach a point where I have to arrest you, I’m just going to ask you to come with me. I have more respect for you than that.”

“I’m glad,” Waverly murmured. She paused awkwardly. “This is a nice car for a rental.”

“I guess Enterprise screwed up, because we certainly didn’t pay for it.”

“They have extra money from exploring space. The final frontier.”

Nicole snorted. “ _Stargate_ was better.”

“Nerds within a hundred miles heard that.”

“I’m not going to apologize for it.” Nicole grinned and picked up her coffee cup. “I don’t apologize for being right.”

“You have a smart mouth, don’t you?” Waverly leaned forward, smirking, and waited until Nicole had started to take a drink. “I wonder if you have a smart tongue, too.”

Nicole choked on her coffee. After several seconds of coughing, she finally managed to put her cup back into the cup holder and wheezed out, “Holy shit.”

“Sorry.”

“You’re not sorry,” Nicole rasped.

“Not even a little.”

Nicole stared at her, shaking her head slowly. “I’m a cop, Waverly.”

Waverly shifted forward in her seat and fidgeted with Nicole’s collar gently. “Yeah, I know. You’re a good one. You’re just also a little bit of a corrupt one.”

“What does that make me _really_ , then?” Nicole asked, her voice soft.

“Still a cop. But one I’m going to kiss.”

“What?”

Waverly shifted further forward between the front seats. “I’m going to kiss you, Nicole. Okay?”

Nicole swallowed, nerves overtaking whatever guilt had crept in during their conversation. “Okay.”

“Good.” With a small grin, Waverly pulled Nicole by her shirt collar and kissed her on the mouth.

 

+++

 

“Wynonna, do you think we can trust Waverly?”

The question came out of nowhere and stunned her, and for a long moment Wynonna could only stare at Willa. “Of course we can trust Waverly. She’s our baby sister. She helped plan this whole thing. Why couldn’t we trust her?”

Willa shrugged. “She’s not as much of a criminal as you and I are. And she’s been acting weird. Sneaking off. Avoiding conversations about _why_ she’s acting odd. I just wonder if maybe she’s getting cold feet.”

“No way. Wave knows how important this mission is. She probably is just getting cabin fever.” Wynonna chuckled. “You can’t tell me that you aren’t tired of sleeping in hotel rooms and driving in cares with the two of us for hours on end.”

“I am. I just… I don’t know. Something about this whole thing feels odd. Like she’s hiding something.”

“It’s _Waverly_. Trust me, Willa, never in her life has she ever legitimately wanted to hurt us. She’s just getting some air.” Wynonna took a sip of whiskey and drew a card. “Remember that she’s only twenty-one. The kid’s allowed to want to get out a bit.”

“Sure,” Willa said, not sounding convinced. “As long as she remembers that she’s not a kid anymore.”

Wynonna laughed. “She’s more mature than both of us put together, Will.”

“Yeah.” Willa started shuffling the cards. “I’m sure you’re right. But if you’re not?”

After the briefest hesitation, Wynonna shook her head. “I don’t even need to think of the possibility,” she said firmly. “Because I know that I’m not wrong. Waverly is the steadiest of all of us.” Wynonna picked up her cards and lowered her voice. “She has to be.”


	11. Follow Me Into The (Jungle)

_There aren’t really many things to do in a small town. I think that’s why it was so easy for us to get in trouble. We really just didn’t have anything better to do._

_I also think that’s why we gamble on so much. Take so many risks. It’s not just because of the poker Doc taught us. The ways to cheat people that you bet at card tricks. It’s because daring your sister to do something absurdly dangerous becomes a lot more interesting when you bet her that she can’t do it. Because then, you have something to lose, too._

_That’s the thing about gambling- you always have something to lose. And with us, with the gambles we take, we usually have everything to lose. Very little to gain._

_Not that winning freedom for our town is a small victory. It isn’t. But sometimes, I wonder if we’ve risked far too much._

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 17 – SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, U.S.A.**

 

“I’m starting to regret the decision to never take an airplane,” Willa grumbled as she lay in the grass in a local park.

“Too many security cameras,” Waverly said, spinning her phone in her hand.

Willa kicked her shoulder. “I know that, asshole.”

“Then why bother complaining?”

“Hey.” Wynonna reached over and put her hand over Waverly’s face. “Cool it.”

“Oh, but why?” Waverly mumbled against Wynonna’s palm.

“Because I don’t feel like listening to you two fight all afternoon.”

“Somebody doesn’t know how to have any fun at all.”

Willa sat up so that she could take a sip of her iced coffee. “What are we going to do when we’re done our list? We’re not going to have enough money.”

“Maybe,” Waverly said.

“No. Definitely. There’s no way we’ll ever get as much as Bobo wants. We’ve not even hit a million yet.”

Waverly didn’t say anything. Wynonna pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. ‘I don’t know, Willa,” she murmured. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what we’ll do. All I know is that, right now, _this_ is the only thing we can do. For now, it’s gonna have to be good enough.”

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 17 – WEST WENDOVER, NEVADA, U.S.A.**

 

As Wynonna and Willa walked into the fast food restaurant, Waverly leaned against the car and stared at her phone. She argued with herself for a few seconds before dialing in the number of Nicole’s burner phone and clicking Send.

“ _I was wondering how long it would take for you to call me._ ”

Waverly laughed lightly. “Isn’t there protocol against calling somebody immediately after you make out with them?”

“ _If there is, I think you’re breaking it. That happened yesterday, remember?_ ”

“God, there’s so much traveling that I sometimes forget how time works. Everything about you has been playing over and over in my head so much that it felt like it was ages ago.”

Nicole gave a soft chuckle. “ _You’re smooth for an armed robber._ ”

“Hey. I told you. I’m just the getaway.”

“ _Yeah, so you’ve said._ ”

Waverly started pacing slowly. “What, you don’t believe me?”

“ _I do. It just always sounds funny when you defend yourself that way._ ”

“Fair enough.”

“ _Where are you?_ ” There was a long pause. “ _Sorry. I guess it’s probably better for both of us if I don’t ask._ ”

“It probably is,” Waverly murmured. “But I’ll tell you that I’m in Nevada.”

“ _Do you guys absolutely have to go everywhere that’s unreasonably hot? I know it’s summer, but why couldn’t you just rob every bank in Maine? Washington? The Dakotas are nice._ ”

Waverly laughed again, her pacing slowing further. “Must you be a stereotypical Canadian? It’s insulting.”

“ _I bet you hate hockey, too._ ”

“I wouldn’t if I was watching it with you, I’m sure.”

She could hear the smile in Nicole’s voice. “ _You’re quick with the flirting, aren’t you?_ ”

“I’m a criminal. If I don’t think fast, it doesn’t go well for me.” Waverly sat down on the hood of the car. “I’m sorry, Nicole.”

“ _For what?_ ”

“For dragging you into this. For... For making you betray your badge.”

Nicole said nothing for what felt like hours. Then, softly, she said, “ _You didn’t make me do anything, Waverly. I made my choice. I have to live with it. You might be the reason, but you’re not at fault. It’s on me._ ”

“I just don’t want you to feel guilty over me.”

“ _Neither of us can avoid a little bit of that. But I’ve come to terms with the fact that it’s too late to go back. And even if I could, I… I don’t want to._ ”

“Why?” Waverly asked, a faint smile forming on her face.

“ _Dunno. Guess you have a smart mouth, too._ ”

Waverly let out a sharp laugh. “You’re pretty quick with your comments, too.”

“ _Wit is something I’ve always considered a specialty._ ”

“It shows.” Waverly glanced up and saw Wynonna paying the cashier in the restaurant. “I need to go. Is it okay if I call you again sometime? If I… if I try to get to see you again sometime?”

“ _Of course. Just maybe call instead of showing up at a crime scene, okay?_ ”

“Oh, trust me, that’s not happening again.” Waverly smirked. “Well, at least not _after_ the crime has been committed.”

Nicole paused. “ _I should’ve seen that coming._ ”

“You really should’ve.”

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 18 – RENO, NEVADA, U.S.A.**

 

The fight started the moment they got into their motel room.

“We should take some of the money to a casino. We won’t get a million, but it’s the only way that we can start building our intake more. If we take five thousand of what we have and go to the casinos and manage to double it-”

“Do you have absolutely no idea how casinos work?” Waverly demanded. “It’s not a cash exchange where you give them a dollar and they give you two dollars in return. And who the hell brings _five thousand dollars_ to a casino, just casually? You’ll draw more attention to yourself than if you walked into a bank and shot into the ceiling and announced that you were the bank robber everyone was looking for.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Wynonna said. “You don’t have access to any of that money. All we have is enough to get us through the next leg.”

“That’s all _you two_ have,” Willa growled. She reached into her bag and dug out a stack of hundred dollar bills. “ _I_ have a lot more than that.”

Waverly almost hit her, and she had to be held back by Wynonna. “You _stole from our haul_? Are you _crazy_? There’s a _reason_ that we don’t carry that money around, Willa!”

“And I don’t care about it. We’re getting nowhere.”

“You _should_ care,” Wynonna said coldly. “If you screw up, we aren’t the only ones who will pay. Purgatory will too.”

“I’m doing this _for_ Purgatory. I’m the only one who seems to actually give a damn about _doing_ something.”

Wynonna pushed Waverly behind her and took a step towards Willa. “Not like this. Give me the money. Go get some rest. Get ready for tomorrow. We need to stick to the plan.”

Willa laughed, stuck the cash into her purse, and put the bag over her shoulder. “Fuck your plan. And fuck both of you.”

She turned and walked out of the room, taking the money with her.


	12. You Were (Lawless)

_Willa isn’t a bad person. I swear she’s not. She’s just… difficult._

_Difficult, and reckless, and arrogant._

_I think at heart she really does want to help people. She just never seems to pick the best way to do it. I’m not saying that I do, but Willa always just, well, struggled. She struggled with picking the right card, you know? Three Card Monte. Find the queen. Only she’s never on the table, so you’re just picking blindly and hoping for the best._

_Your best is simply never going to be good enough, no matter how hard you try._

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 19 – RENO, NEVADA, U.S.A.**

 

“I’m going to kill her.”

“Only if I don’t kill her first.”

“I get first shot. I’ve known her longer.”

“That’s only because you were _born first_.”

“Which is exactly why I get first shot.”

Waverly sighed and leaned her seat back a bit, staring down the street at the bank they had planned to rob. “Maybe you shouldn’t do this, Wy.”

“No other option, Waves.” Wynonna pulled her gloves on, a grim smile on her face. “If Willa doesn’t want to show up, it’s her problem. We were doing simultaneous robberies anyway. I don’t need her to do my job.”

“I know, but you’re distracted now.”

“Hey.” Wynonna playfully pressed her fist against Waverly’s cheek. “I’ll be fine. Just be at the pickup spot, and I’ll see you there soon. Okay?”

“Okay. Be careful.”

 

+++

 

When Waverly and Wynonna got back to the motel room, they found Willa asleep on one of the beds.

“Oh, look, Wynonna, it’s our _sister_. Remember our sister? The one who stupidly decide to break the plan when we were already halfway through it?” Waverly picked a pillow up off of a chair and threw it at Willa’s head. “I was starting to think we had _lost her_. It’s such a _shame_ that we _didn’t_.”

“ _Fuck off, Waverly,_ ” Willa snarled, pulling her pillow over her head.

“Oo, somebody had a bad night.” Wynonna pretended to check a watch she wasn’t wearing. “And a bad morning. How much did you drink in the casinos, Will? Oh, better yet, how much of our money did you lose?”

Waverly picked up the purse Willa had carried the night before and opened it. “Well, will you look at that, Wynonna! There’s _no money in here whatsoever_.

“I’m _stunned_ , Waverly. Absolutely _shocked_. I cannot believe that our sister, who has a track record for being the worst gambler in history, took five grand to a casino and managed to lose _every single dollar of it_.”

Willa sat up quickly and glared at them, hangover and exhaustion making her eyes red. “If you both don’t _shut the fuck up_ , I am going to _murder both of you_.”

“You’re the one who screwed up, Willa,” Wynonna said, her voice icy. “You should be grateful that neither of us has punched you in the face yet.”

“I’m the only one of us who is actually trying to _do_ something,” Willa retorted.

Waverly laughed. “Yeah? Well then why did you do nothing but bring us backwards?”

Willa glared at her for another solid minute before laying back down, holding the pillow over her head to drown out any noise, and going back to sleep.

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 20 – RENO, NEVADA, U.S.A.**

 

Nicole watched as Dolls and Lucado interrogated the bank manager of the latest robbery. She was about to walk over to join them when the phone in her pocket buzzed.

Not her personal phone.

She took out the burner and turned away from the FBI agents, pressing the phone to her ear.

“Thief.”

“ _Constable._ ”

“I’ve been admiring your handiwork.”

“ _It could’ve been better._ ”

Something in Waverly’s voice caught her attention. Anxiety. Anger. Genuine distress.

It actually shook Nicole to the core.

“Is everything okay?”

A pause. “ _Have I ever told you how adorable I find the title ‘constable’? It’s highly attractive. It makes me-_ ”

“Waverly.”

There was a long, slow sigh on the other end of the line. “ _No. Everything’s not okay._ ”

Nicole’s stomach squirmed, and she absentmindedly licked her lips. “What’s going on?”

“ _I can’t talk about it right now. It’s nothing bad. I’m just… not having a great day. When can you get away from the Honest Cops?_ ”

The comment was good-natured, but it still made Nicole flinch as she looked and Dolls and Lucado. “Few hours.”

“ _Okay. I’m going to give you the address of a motel. Meet me there when you’re finished._ ” Waverly gave a quick laugh. “ _And don’t take that the wrong way, Constable Haught._ ”

“Never in my wildest dreams, Waverly.”

“ _Well. Never say never._ ”

Nicole gave a faint grin as Waverly hung up. As she pocketed the phone, she found herself thinking of ways she could get done with her work sooner.

 

+++

 

“I don’t like her.”

“You don’t like anyone.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“You don’t _trust_ anyone, either.”

Lucado glared at Dolls as they watched Nicole talk to a bank teller. “I’m serious, Dolls. My instincts are right about this one. She’s suspicious. There’s something going on.”

“She’s a kid who’s trying. She’s done pretty well for us so far.”

Lucado scoffed. “Oh, sure. What has she done?”

Dolls gave her a humorless smile. “Ma’am, no offense, but what have _any of us_ done?”

“Watch your tone, Dolls.” Lucado stuffed her notebook into her pocket. “And mark my words. That girl is not the kind of cop that we should be trusting.”

 

+++

 

Nicole knocked politely on the door of the motel room Waverly had indicated. After only a moment, it opened, and Waverly pulled her inside.

“You’re sure you weren’t followed?”

“Trust me, I made sure. That would screw us both, remember?”

“Oh, I remember.” Waverly shoved Nicole up against the door and kissed her.

After a few seconds, Nicole gently pushed her off. “Whoa. What’s that about?”

“My options at the moment are either kiss the hell out of you or shoot the wall with a shotgun, and I figure that kissing the hell out of you would be less destructive.”

“Depends on whether the destruction of my willpower can be calculated,” Nicole muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. What’s going on?”

“My oldest sister is being an ass. Worse, she’s being reckless. And I don’t know what to do about it. And we’re never going to get the money we need. And what’s the point of all of this if we’re never going to get anywhere? And both of my sisters are out there right now planning on spending the night getting drunk in a bar to fix their relationship, because my oldest sister screwed up and my other sister forgave her for it. But I _can’t_ forgive her. Because I’m _tired_ and I’m _angry_ and I’ve never felt more like the _criminal_ that I am, and to make matters worse, _all I keep thinking about_ is how much you’ve ruined your life for my sake, and-”

Nicole took Waverly’s face in her hands and kissed her.

The kiss lingered for a long, slow moment, until Nicole released her. “Shh,” she whispered. “Shh, Waverly, it’s going to be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” Waverly rasped.

“Not even a little bit. But I’m still here, aren’t I? You’re still here. You’re still _fighting_. So don’t give up just yet.”

Waverly stared up at her, an unreadable glint in her eyes. Then she grabbed Nicole’s shoulders and pulled her down into another kiss. She fumbled for only a brief moment before somehow finding herself on the bed, Nicole on top of her.

“This sort of defeats my claims about why I was inviting you to a motel,” Waverly said hoarsely.

“I’ll get over it.” Nicole grinned. “You said your sisters were going to be out for a while?”

Waverly mirrored her grin slowly. “Yeah.”

“Hm.” For a few seconds, Nicole just looked down at her. “Sleeping with you would be a felony,” she murmured.

“Your point?”

“I don’t have one; it just needed to be said.”

Waverly laughed and started playing with the top button of Nicole’s uniform. “I think I’m worth it.”

“I’m sure you do.” Nicole kissed her again. “If I go to prison, I’m blaming you.”

“I will _gladly_ plead guilty to that, Constable.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

Waverly smirked and undid the button she had been playing with. “I’m aware. Are you complaining?”

Nicole swallowed, shaking her head. “Not at all.”

“Good.” Waverly yanked her down by her collar and kissed her. “Then let’s commit some crime, Constable.”

 

+++

 

A few hours later, well before Wynonna and Willa were due to return to the motel, Nicole slipped out the front door and headed for her rental car. As she walked, she grinned like she couldn’t help herself and struggled with reattaching her duty belt properly around her waist.

She paid no attention to the man at the other end of the parking lot, taking pictures of her as she left.


	13. All You Lonely (Sons & Daughters)

_I’m not sure what I would’ve done. If I had known what Waverly and Nicole were doing from the start. I don’t blame them. Sometimes you just can’t fight things like that. I just wish I could’ve… I dunno. Stopped them before they got hurt more than they already were. Saved them from what was to come._

_This may surprise you, but I like Nicole. I don’t want anything to happen to her. I don’t hate her for being a cop._

_I just wish she had never met my sister._

_It would’ve saved both of them so much pain in the end._

_My job, as Waverly’s big sister, is to protect her. And I’ve failed at that far more than I could ever properly express. I failed my little sister. And I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for it._

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 26 – CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

Hidden away inside Calgary, the bar the sisters walked into was dark and loud and perfect for them.

What was particularly important for their interests was the room in the back, blocked off from the normal customers, that they walked into casually.

“Well if it isn’t Team Rocket,” Doc teased as he got up from the poker table to hug them.

“I call James,” Waverly said immediately.

Wynonna squinted at her. “Why the hell would you want to be James?”

“Uh, because he’s brilliant. Have you ever seen the episodes where they’re allowed to be the good guys? He has _great_ plans.”

Her sister slung an arm around her neck in a loose chokehold. “You’re a nerd.”

“Proudly.”

“I hate you both,” Willa grumbled.

“Willa Earp, you are more miserable than usual.”

She just made an irritated noise and pushed past Doc to join the poker game.

Doc raised an eyebrow at Wynonna. “Somebody’s not having a good day.”

“Somebody’s not having a good _life_.” Wynonna shook her head slowly. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Waverly walked over to the table and sat down across from Willa. She grinned at the others sitting with them.

Ambrose and Eli Fish had married only a few months earlier. They were petty thieves, career pick-pockets and con artists, but they were always pleasant. Eli was a quiet man, rarely getting involved much in the sillier antics that their little group sometimes got up to. Ambrose was the fun one, always quick with a smile and a bit awkward but unflinchingly loyal. The two had put together all of the fake I.D.s required for the robbery spree, and it had worked out spectacularly.

The other member of their little group was more of a mystery. They all knew her and trusted her, but The Blacksmith (Waverly knew that her name was Mattie, but she had no idea what her last name was and the woman had never indicated a desire to share it) didn’t give much away. She was brilliant, though- she had created all of the tech they used, including the devices they utilized to disable security cameras wherever they went.

The sisters would have gotten nowhere without the people in this room.

“How’s the cashflow going?” Ambrose asked eagerly, tossing a chip into the center of the table.

“We’re over five hundred thousand.”

“That’s not bad!”

“Not great, either,” Eli mumbled.

Ambrose elbowed him.

“Is the tech still working out for you?” Mattie laid her cards down and calmly pulled the entire pot over to her collection of poker chips.

“Yes, perfectly. Thank you.”

Wynonna put an arm around Doc’s shoulders and led him back to the table. “How’s Purgatory?”

“Nobody else has died yet. It seems that Bobo is mostly keeping his influence fairly quiet. I know he’s putting pressure on Nedley. The sheriff’s actually standing his ground, which I’m actually pretty impressed with. I didn’t necessarily doubt him, but… well, I had reckoned a bit of a weaker constitution.”

“He’ll get himself killed if he isn’t careful. Or, worse, get Chrissy killed.”

“I’m not sure Bobo would bother with that. He’s all about threats and money.”

Wynonna gave a dry laugh. “He killed Uncle Curtis, Doc.”

“… Right. I’m sorry.”

‘It’s not your fault. I just don’t want you to underestimate Bobo Del Ray.”

“I’ve never done that,” Doc said quietly.

“I know.” Wynonna watched as the group at the table started a new poker game. “I just don’t want anyone else to get killed.”

“None of us will,” Doc said, the confidence in his voice sounding forced.

Wynonna gave a dry laugh. “I certainly hope you end up being right.”

 

+++

 

The Blacksmith left only an hour or so later, citing a project she was working on. While Ambrose, Eli, Wynonna, and Willa got into a drinking competition, Doc sat down on a couch next to Waverly.

“So,” he murmured. “Have you dealt with your cop issue?”

“Uh… sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“I slept with her.”

Doc snorted out a laugh. “That’s one way to deal with the problem.”

Waverly grinned. “It is.” She shook her head, taking a sip of her soda. “I know it’s stupid. I know it’s reckless. But I can’t get her out of my head, Doc.” She played with the soda tab for a moment, snapping it off of the can. “It’s going to destroy us both. Her more than me. But I think it’s too late for either of us.”

“Maybe.” Doc rested a hand comfortingly on her back. “Is it worth it?”

She paused for only a moment. “Yes.”

“Then for now, maybe you should just try to live with that.”

Waverly spun her soda can in her hands slowly. “Am I betraying my sisters?”

“No.”

“You said that awfully fast.”

“Because I know you, Waverly. You might do reckless shit sometimes, but you would never trust somebody that you thought would hurt Wynonna and Willa. You’re not betraying them. Are you making the right choices? I don’t know. I can’t know, and neither can you.” He roughly ran his hand through her hair. “That’s the problem when you follow your heart. Love’s a pain in the ass.”

“I’m not in love with her,” Waverly said quickly.

“I believe you.” Doc leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. “But just know that, if you ever get there? It’s gonna hurt a lot more than it does already.” He gave her a small smile and stood, walking back over to the poker table and leaving Waverly alone with her thoughts.

 

+++

 

**PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

The hometown of the Earp sisters was close enough to Calgary that they could visit. They wouldn’t really want to, but they had to see the woman who had helped raise them. One of the few adults who had ever treated them like family, and she wasn’t even blood.

“Hi, Gus,” Waverly murmured, hugging her aunt tightly.

“You three shouldn’t have come here,” Gus said gruffly, but she hugged Waverly back just as hard.

“We had to make sure you were okay.” Wynonna sat down on the couch. “Are you okay?”

Gus gave a strained laugh. “You know me. I power through it.” She stroked Waverly’s hair. “I’d do better if you three weren’t such idiots.”

“Love you too, Gus,” Willa snarked as she sat next to Wynonna.

“Can the sarcasm, Willa, or I won’t feed you. I have real, actual food, remember?”

“I truly, deeply love you, Gus, more than anything in this world.”

“Yeah, that’s better.” Gus scoffed. “Sit down, relax, we’ll eat, and then you can all sleep in a real bed tonight. Hotels are fine, but they don’t beat _real_ beds.”

“Oh, my God,” Waverly groaned. “You have _no idea_ how much I miss my bed. I might skip dinner altogether.”

“No, you won’t,” Wynonna and Willa said simultaneously.

Waverly paused. “No, I won’t.”

 

+++

 

As Waverly lay in bed, she spun her phone around in her hand, thinking.

Then she called Nicole.

“ _Hullo?_ ” Nicole answered, her voice sounding heavy with sleep.

“Shit, I’m sorry. What time zone are you in?”

“ _Your last robbery was in Portland. It’s two in the morning._ ”

“It’s not-” Waverly looked at the clock next to her, and saw that it read three a.m. “Well, shit.”

“ _Are you alright?_ ”

“Yeah. I just. I’m home at the moment. It’s been sort of screwing with my head.”

Nicole paused. “ _You don’t have enough money yet, though, right?_ ”

“Not even close. But we’re hoping we don’t run into Bobo. We just… had to see home for a bit, you know?”

“ _I know._ ”

Her voice was so soft and gentle that it sent shivers down Waverly’s spine.

She had to recover, quickly.

“It’s a shame I’m going to have to leave quite soon after the next robbery. I could’ve waited around for you.” A significant pause. “You know, just so that we could make sure.”

Nicole scoffed out a laugh. “ _Make sure of what?_ ”

“That neither of us is terrible in bed.”

“ _Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about that._ ”

“Constable Haught, is that _arrogance_ I hear?”

“ _It’s possible. Am I wrong?_ ”

“… No.”

Nicole’s responding laugh faded out into a low sigh. “ _I’m starting to worry. Just a little._ ”

“About what?”

“ _About what happens if we ever catch up to you. About what happens if we ever get real evidence. If Dolls and Lucado ever figure out who you are. I… I’m really not sure what I’ll do._ ”

There was a dull twist in Waverly’s chest. “I’d never ask you to do anything, Nicole.”

“ _I know that. I think that’s what makes it harder for me to have any idea._ ”

“I really didn’t want to do this to you, Nicole. I swear I didn’t.”

A soft chuckle echoed in her ear. “ _I let you go, Waverly. I did that._ ”

“And I’ve never thanked you for it.”

“ _Thanking me for betraying my badge would’ve just made it worse._ ”

Waverly winced. “I’m sorry, Nicole.”

“ _You really are. I think that’s why I can’t stay away from you._ ”

“That particular problem is one we share.”

“ _It would be a little hard for you to stay away from yourself._ ”

That got a sharp laugh from Waverly. “One of these days you’re going to need to stop deflecting with sarcasm.”

“ _You first._ ”

“I think I’d rather just find an excuse to make out with you again.”

“ _Yeah,_ ” Nicole said softly. “ _Me too._ ”

“It would be a little hard for you to-”

“ _Go to sleep, Waverly,_ ” Nicole interrupted.

Waverly grinned. “Good night, Nicole.”

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 27 – PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

When Waverly walked into the kitchen the next morning, she found Gus sitting at the table, downing a coffee cup full of whiskey.

“That’s not a good sign,” Waverly said cautiously.

“Don’t go outside,” Gus rasped.

Waverly immediately turned and headed for the door.

“ _Waverly!_ ”

She got out onto the porch and froze.

Wynonna and Willa both had guns in their hands, glaring across the front yard of the homestead at the cluster of trucks parked just outside the gate.

And Bobo Del Ray was walking towards them, a huge smirk on his face.


	14. What Little Girls Are Made Of (Gunpowder & Lead)

_Bobo Del Ray is, quite frankly, an asshole._

_He’s much worse than that, but that’s the simplest way I can put it. And the full truth is honestly too inappropriate to put to paper._

_I’ve never been all that sure what he wants from us. Why my family is the one he targets. Maybe my father started it. Maybe it traces all the way back to The Great Wyatt Earp. I don’t know._

_All I know is that Bobo Del Ray is the leader of a gang called The Revenants._

_And as far as he’s concerned, we owe him ten million dollars._

 

**AUGUST 27 – PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

Waverly almost went back into the house for her shotgun, but before she could even consider it, over a dozen members of Bobo Del Ray’s gang were out of their trucks, guns pointed at the Earp sisters.

Bobo gave a friendly chuckle. “Now, now. None of us want to make any mistakes that’ll lead to a bunch of unnecessary holes, do we?”

“As long as a bullet goes through your face, I think I’d be okay with dying,” Wynonna snarled.

“Is that any way to treat a guest? Excuse me. _Guests_.”

Waverly almost groaned as a pink Cadillac pulled up next to the trucks, and a blonde woman got out of the driver’s seat. Constance Clootie, Bobo Del Ray’s second-in-command, was as smart as her boss and somehow crueler. And to make matters worse, her mood could turn on a dime.

She could praise your talent one minute, and slit your throat the next.

As always, she was flanked by her sons, two huge thugs that never spoke and might not even have names. Constance never quite looked old enough to be their mother, but they were so unflinchingly loyal to her that not a single person questioned it.

Regardless, anyone who did would’ve been snapped in half.

“Somebody’s been _busy_ ,” Constance said sweetly as she came to a stop next to Bobo. “We’ve been following your progress, girls, and it’s _quite_ impressive.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’ve been making much _money_ , though,” Bobo commented.

“We’re doing our best,” Waverly growled.

“Mm. I doubt it.” Bobo started pacing slowly across the lawn. “There are many things you could be doing to improve. More banks in each location. Bigger banks. Credit card theft, pickpocketing, hell, maybe even a kidnapping or two. There are so many options out there for crime, and you’re only just _brushing_ against the surface.”

“I’d really rather not become like you,” Wynonna said, her voice cold.

Bobo laughed loudly. “That ship has already sailed, sweetheart.”

“Screw you.”

“You aren’t my type, but I’ll consider it,” Bobo said, winking at her.

Willa raised her gun and aimed it at him.

“Oh, calm down, Earp. It’s a joke.” He stopped next to Constance and lowered his voice as if sharing a secret with her. “Sort of like their plan.”

Constance laughed. “You mean their pitiful collection of money _isn’t_ the same as what they owe you in ransom?”

“Not even close.”

“We have time,” Wynonna said. “We have _time_ , Del Ray. Back the hell off.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to let you finish your excursion. At the very least, it’s been entertaining to watch.” Bobo’s gaze went directly to Waverly. “There have been several… _interesting_ turns to the story.”

Waverly’s blood went cold, but her sisters didn’t seem to notice his tone.

Bobo turned and whistled. His men started to get back into their trucks, and he got into one as well. Constance and her sons got into her Cadillac, and in only a matter of seconds, they were all gone.

“I’m going to shoot him,” Wynonna said in a growl.

“Not if I shoot him first.” Willa finally lowered her gun. “We should go. We have a robbery to prepare for.”

“Agreed. We _have_ to get as much money as we possibly can. Quickly.”

The older Earp girls walked back into the house, not noticing that Waverly was frozen in place.

Shakily, she sat down on the railing of the porch and took out her latest burner phone.

“Come on, Nicole, pick up,” she mumbled.

“ _Waverly?_ ”

“I think Bobo knows about us and I don’t know what to do, I mean, what if he tries to blackmail you or what if he tells my sisters or what if he tells the other cops I mean he could do that and what would you-”

“ _Whoa, okay, slow down. You’re more than a few sentences ahead of me, here, Wave._ ”

“Right. Sorry.” Waverly took in a deep breath. “Bobo Del Ray came here.”

“ _Jesus. Are you okay?_ ”

“I’m fine. We’re all fine. I think he just wanted to freak us out. Remind us how important what we’re doing is.” Waverly glanced at the door to make sure no one was coming back outside. “But he said something to me… It wasn’t definite, but I could _feel it_ , Nicole. He knows.”

“ _How could he know?_ ”

“He’s smarter than he looks. And trust me, he looks _stupid_.”

“ _What do you think he’ll do?_ ”

Waverly sighed. “I don’t know. He could do anything. Odds are best that he’ll use it against one of us. Hold it over our heads to get us to do something illegal for him.”

“ _Illegal, huh? We’ve probably burned that bridge, Waverly._ ”

“More illegal than anything we’ve already done, Nicole. Crime is crime, but what Bobo does is… beyond anything you or I want to get involved in.” Waverly rubbed at her eyes. “I need to see you. I can’t take this anymore. But I can’t think of a time really soon that our paths will be able to intersect again.” She hesitated. “I… I could… I can trust you, Nicole. Right?”

There was a soft laugh from Nicole’s side of the line. “ _Yes, Waverly. You can trust me._ ”

“I just don’t know if I can lay this kind of knowledge on you. This kind of burden. It might be too much to ask of you.”

“ _Waverly. It’s okay._ ”

Waverly closed her eyes. “September sixth. Birmingham, Alabama. I’ll call you.”

For a long moment, Nicole was silent. “ _I’ll make sure I have my phone with me._ ”

“We’re going to pay for this eventually, won’t we?” Waverly whispered.

“ _Probably._ ”

“You seem awfully calm about it.”

“ _I’ve resigned myself to my fate._ ”

Waverly flinched. “That doesn’t really make me feel better, Nicole.”

“ _But you’re my fate, Waverly._ ”

That got a quick laugh, louder than she had anticipated as it released the anxiety built up in her chest. “That was a _line_.”

“ _It was going to sound better, but I realized at the last second that I don’t actually know you’re last name._ ”

“Oh yeah.”

“ _I’m not asking for it_ ,” Nicole said immediately. “ _I know what it means, especially due to your sisters. It’s just kind of funny. I guess I-_ ”

“Earp.”

“ _What?_ ”

She swallowed. “My name is Waverly Earp.”

A soft, almost relieved laugh came from Nicole’s end of the call. “ _Well then. It’s nice to meet you, Waverly Earp._ ”

Waverly smiled like she couldn’t quite help herself. “It’s about time, Nicole Haught.”

 

+++

 

**AUGUST 28 – CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

 

“We’re not going to have enough.”

Wynonna scoffed loudly as the trio entered their room above the bar. “Have a little bit of optimism, Willa.”

“What you have isn’t _optimism_ , Wynonna, it’s _delusion_. We are _never going to have enough_.”

“What do you want me to do?” Wynonna demanded, rounding on her sister. “We don’t have any other options.”

Willa shrugged and looked down at the floor.

Waverly narrowed her eyes as she put her shotgun back in her duffel bag. “I think Willa is considering Bobo’s suggestions.”

“They aren’t bad suggestions,” Willa mumbled.

“Our goal is to _not_ hurt people,” Wynonna insisted. “Our guns are always on safety. The only person we lay a finger on is the security guard. We never take anything from the people visiting the bank, only money from the bank itself. The _entire point_ of what we do is to cause _as little damage_ to other people as possible. We’re doing this to help the people of our town, Willa. If we start harming others in order to do it, what’s the goddamn point?”

“Yeah? Well tell me, Wynonna, what’s the point when we do all of this for nothing? When we don’t get what Bobo wants and we lose our town anyway? I’m not saying that we stop our plan entirely, but we _should_ consider _adding_ to the plan.”

“Greed is how people end up dead, Will,” Waverly murmured. “And recklessness is how we all end up in prison.”

“We’re smarter than most criminals.”

“And arrogance is how you end up _dead in prison_. Congratulations for the hat trick!” Waverly retorted sarcastically.

Willa hit her in the back of the head. “Your sass isn’t helping anybody, Waverly, and maybe if you were a bit more _useful_ we wouldn’t be this far behind.”

“Leave her alone, Willa,” Wynonna snapped. “This isn’t her fault. We just don’t have any choice.”

“I’m trying to tell you that we _have_ choice. You both are just _ignoring_ it.”

“Selling our souls completely isn’t a choice,” Waverly whispered. “If you were actually in this to save our town, you’d know that. And if you don’t know that, then I’m sorry, Willa, but I really don’t know why you’re really doing this.”

Willa laughed, shaking her head slowly. “Unbelievable. Both of you are unbelievable. And _wrong_. And you’re going to get everyone we’ve ever known killed.” She turned and headed for the door. “I’m going to get a drink.”

Once she was gone, Waverly glanced at Wynonna. “She’s not right. Right?”

Wynonna put an arm around her and pressed a kiss to her temple. “She’s not right.” Her voice softened further. “She can’t be, or I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

 

+++

 

Waverly sat at a table in a corner of the bar, watching silently as her sisters tried to settle their dispute with a drinking contest. She barely noticed when Ambrose Fish sat down next to her.

“I have something for you,” he murmured.

“What’s that?” she asked, her voice dull.

He handed her a small envelope. When she opened it, her heart dropped out of her chest.

Photos. Of her pulling Nicole into the motel room in Reno. Of Nicole leaving later, still adjusting her clothing.

It wasn’t definitive, but it was clear enough.

“Where did you get these?” she asked hoarsely.

“Bobo has been forcing Eli to follow you and your sisters,” Ambrose said, guilt heavy in his voice. “Apparently, he threatened to kill me. To kill all of us. I love him, but Eli is not a very brave man. He never stood a chance.”

Waverly rubbed her temple, trying to fight off a headache. “So Bobo does know. About her.”

“Yes. But he doesn’t have the pictures yet. And he’s not going to get them.” Ambrose gestured at the envelope. “You have the only copies.”

“Ambrose…”

“You three are the only hope Purgatory has. The rest of us don’t matter. Eli and I are going to leave town. I’ll make sure he understands that it’s the only honorable thing to do.” Ambrose rested his hand on top of Waverly’s. “I’m sorry, Waverly. For everything. For… For what Eli did.” He tapped a finger against the envelope and lowered his voice further. “And I’m sorry for your cop, too.”

‘Why?”

Ambrose gave a small, sympathetic smile. “Because you wouldn’t sleep with anyone you didn’t think you could trust. And, pictures or no, Bobo Del Ray is going to destroy both of you.”

He squeezed her hand comfortingly and stood walking out of the bar and leaving her alone with the envelope. Waverly poured more whiskey into her glass. “Yeah,” she whispered to no one. “He probably will.”


	15. Give Me That (Fire)

_My father was a cop. Worked side-by-side with my uncle Curtis, with Sheriff Nedley back before he was a sheriff, with a handful of other cops that circulated around in a small town. I’m pretty sure one of the deputies was also our local librarian. I think another owned the only pizza shop in town. You know. Small town bullshit._

_Not Ward Earp. Not him. He was a guns-blazing cop, determined to prevent crime whenever possible. It didn’t stop him from drinking too much. Didn’t stop him from being an abusive asshole. Didn’t stop him from driving our mother away._

_Didn’t stop him from making a deal with the Del Ray family in an attempt to pull Purgatory out of their grip._

_And getting shot for his trouble._

_I think that was the worst day of my life. Even worse than October 24._

_Watching Daddy take three bullets, while Willa tried to get his gun to protect him and got a fist to the face for her troubles, while I held his gun in my hands and tried to save him but couldn’t._

_Couldn’t, because Waverly was six years old and she was cowering next to me and trying to shoot one of The Revenants would cause one of the others to turn their violence on us._

_And I had to protect my sister._

_It was the only time in my life that I think I’ve ever succeeded at that._

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 4 – PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

Dolls set a coffee cup next to Nicole as he walked over to his seat. “What are you looking at?”

“Literally nothing.” Nicole sighed and closed the folder in her hands. “Twenty-nine robberies.”

“We’re going to get fired pretty soon,” Dolls joked. He frowned when he saw the troubled look on her face. “Everything okay, Haught?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Just trying to piece together what we have.”

“Well, we have about a hundred composite sketches from eyewitnesses, none of which actually look alike. Zero security camera footage. They’ve ditched every single dye pack, tracer, _whatever_ that any bank has managed to slip into their bags. They wear gloves so there’s no fingerprints. We have two or three shoeprints but none of them match so they’re probably changing shoes at every bank. Literally all we have is a basic concept of what kinds of banks they hit, and their M.O.”

“We’re doing great,” Nicole said dryly.

Lucado entered the room and slammed a piece of paper down onto the table. “Birmingham.”

Nicole’s face went blank. “What?”

“That storage unit idea? They finally screwed up. We found one the one here. No real evidence. Even the I.D.s in there had the pictures sliced out of them. They’re smarter than that. But we found the money they stole, and we found the city for their next robbery. Birmingham, Alabama. All we need to do is figure out which banks fit the ones they like, and we can lay a trap for them.”

“ _Finally_ we’re getting somewhere,” Dolls said. “When do we leave?”

“Already have plane tickets. Get your bags.”

Lucado left the room, and Dolls grinned at Nicole. “Almost there, Haught. We’ve almost got them.”

“Yeah. Awesome.”

His grin faded. “You alright?”

Nicole immediately forced a smile. “Absolutely. I just can’t believe that after all this time, we’re making some progress.”

“Damn straight.” Dolls stood and picked up his coffee. “See you at the car, Haught,” he said as he left.

For a moment, Nicole just sat there, dull fear wrapping around her heart. She took her burner phone out so fast that she fumbled and almost dropped it, and she was shaking as she hit Waverly’s number.

And got a message that the phone had been disconnected.

Waverly had already changed to her Birmingham phone, and Nicole didn’t have her new number yet.

“Oh, God,” Nicole whispered. “I’m so screwed.”

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 5 – BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, U.S.A.**

 

Waverly sat in a Mustang, watching down the street as Wynonna and Willa headed towards the bank they had chosen for Birmingham. She almost jumped out of her skin and raised her gun quickly when the back door of her car opened without any warning, and Nicole slipped into her backseat.

“ _Jesus_ , Nicole, I could’ve shot-” Waverly broke off instantly. “Wait, why are you here already?”

“Call them back.”

“What?”

“Your sisters. Call them. Tell them to run. _Now!_ ”

Waverly immediately grabbed one of the devices The Blacksmith had given them. A panic button of sorts, which sent off a warning light in her sisters’ sunglasses and let them know that it was too dangerous to complete the job. It was only to be used in emergencies.

If Nicole was already in Birmingham, it was an emergency.

She watched as Wynonna and Willa both paused, mumbled something at each other, and headed off in separate directions away from the bank. “They’re clear.”

Nicole gave a sigh heavy with relief and rested her head against the back of the passenger seat.

“What the hell, Nicole?”

“They found your storage unit in Pittsburgh,” Nicole rasped. “They found where you were going. I tried to call you, but you had changed phones.”

“How the hell did you find me?”

Nicole smiled slightly. “You’re the getaway driver. I had an idea where to look.”

“Christ, Nicole, they’re going to know somebody tipped us off.”

“Maybe not.”

“Nicole-”

“I have to go. Before they notice I’m gone.”

“Nicole.”

“What?”

Waverly shook her head slowly. “Come here.”

Nicole shifted forward just slightly, confusion and worry flickering across her face. “I swear I didn’t tell-”

She was cut off as Waverly grabbed her collar, pulled her forward, and kissed her.

“I’m still going to call you tomorrow,” Waverly murmured. “If you’re okay with that.”

“More than okay,” Nicole whispered. She slipped out of the car and headed into the crowd.

Waverly watched her walk away in the mirror for as long as she could before steering her car back into traffic and driving away.

 

+++

 

“I can’t believe it,” Lucado snarled, pacing back and forth in the room the local police had given them. “I don’t understand why they didn’t rob that bank today.”

Nicole shrugged. “Maybe we were wrong. Or maybe we just have the day wrong. You never know; they might hit it tomorrow.”

“No. They were tipped off.”

Dolls scoffed and took a sip of his coffee. “How? Local SWAT didn’t know about this until the moment we were here. Are you suggesting that they have a mole in every police station in every city they’re going to hit?”

Lucado looked pointedly between Dolls and Nicole. “Or maybe they have a mole in this room.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not _joking_ , Agent Dolls.”

“Lucado, we’ve been working on this case. We’ve been _trying_. Why would we do that if we were working with the criminals the whole time?”

“For this exact reason. Maybe there _is_ evidence. Or there _was_. Maybe one of you just buried it.” Lucado’s cold gaze shifted to Nicole. “You’re being awfully quiet, Constable Haught.”

“Because you’re being awfully ludicrous, Agent Lucado.”

“Explain, then, where you were while we were watching the bank.”

“Uh, watching the bank? I was exactly where you told me to be.”

“Hm.” Lucado’s glare went between Nicole and Dolls a few more times. “I guess we’ll see.”

Once she had gone, Dolls rolled his eyes and looked at Nicole. “Don’t mind her. She doesn’t like losing. She’ll eventually figure out that we aren’t the bad guys here.”

Nicole swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Yeah. Hopefully.”

 

+++

 

“How did you know?” Willa asked as Waverly drove them back to their motel. “That there were cops.”

Waverly shrugged. “You know FBI agents and their stupid little earbuds. I spotted one near the bank.”

Wynonna ruffled her hair playfully. “Good eye, kid.”

Willa looked suspicious, but she nodded. “That’s a good catch.”

“Yeah, well, what do we do now? We don’t have a backup plan.”

“Don’t worry,” Wynonna said. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Oh, yeah,” Willa mumbled. “We will.”

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 6 – BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, U.S.A.**

 

With her sisters out, planning out potential robberies, Waverly called Nicole.

She was outside the door in only a few minutes, smirking slightly.

“I’m sorry, Constable, but do you have a warrant?” Waverly asked, standing in the doorway.

“Nope. I’m coming in anyway.”

“That’s not very legal.”

“Neither are we.” Nicole kissed her on her way in the room, pushing the door closed behind her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Everybody got away fine. Is Lucado suspicious?”

“It’s a little hard to tell, because she hates me.” Nicole took Waverly’s face in her hands. “I’m fine, Waverly. I promise.”

“What are we going to do, Nicole? This whole thing just keeps getting worse.”

“I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve officially, _officially_ made my choice. I think that’s clear enough.”

Waverly smiled, pulling Nicole into another kiss. “I think it’s been clear for a while.”

“I know. But I hope you trust me. Because that’s all I want.”

“Trust me, Nicole. I trust you.” Waverly gently pushed her back against the door. “But is that _really_ all you want?”

“… Maybe not.”

Waverly smirked. “I didn’t think so.”

 

+++

 

Wynonna sat in the car outside of a cash exchange, watching it closely. She was debating with herself, trying to think of the best way to get inside and rob it. Willa had gone around back to look for a good way in, and Wynonna was about get out of the car to go looking for her when three things happened in rapid succession.

First, everyone in the building started running out, screaming.

Second, Willa appeared at the driver’s side window, telling her that they had to move, fast.

Third, flames erupted out of the cash exchange’s front window.


	16. That's (The Night) That (The Lights Went Out In Georgia)

_In my heart, I knew that Willa had a point. That we were never going to get anywhere, the way we were going. There was no way we were ever going to get enough money to pay off Bobo._

_But that didn’t matter to me. It never really did. I knew that if we tried other methods, if we did the sort of things that could net the kind of money we needed, we wouldn’t be achieving anything. We’d just be losing ourselves._

_When all of this started, I had worried about Waverly’s soul. I had worried about what living in this darkness would do to her._

_I was wrong. At her heart, Waverly never changed. She never broke._

_All of this time, I was worried about the wrong sister._

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 6 – BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, U.S.A.**

 

Nicole sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on her boots as Waverly idly ran her fingers up her spine.

“I almost shot you. When you got into the car.” Waverly chuckled softly. “I suppose that would’ve been awkward.”

“No more awkward than how we met.”

“Yeah.” Waverly sat up and rested her chin on Nicole’s shoulder, her voice low. “I wouldn’t have shot you. In that bar. I was just scared. And angry, too, but mostly scared. I know that that’s usually a reason that someone _would_ shoot someone, but… I wouldn’t have shot you.”

‘I think I knew that, somehow. I could see it in your eyes.” Nicole turned her head. “You have very nice eyes, Waverly Earp.”

Waverly gave a groan of disgust. “You’re just saying that because you got laid.”

“It’s possible.”

“You gave up everything for me, Nicole. When you let me go in that bar, you gave up everything for me,” Waverly whispered. She pressed a kiss against the back of Nicole’s shoulder. “I know you said that thanking you would make it worse. But I have to say it, Nicole. Thank you. We don’t have any chance of stopping Bobo. Of getting what he wants. But the only way we’ll even be able to try is because of you.”

“You give me too much credit,” Nicole murmured. “I let you go because I was weak, and a little bit drunk, and flustered, and couldn’t arrest you after what you told me. I trusted you. But I’ve done nothing good, Wave. Nothing great, or worthy of thanks. I just picked a side.”

“A criminal and a dirty cop.”

“We make quite the pair.”

Waverly turned Nicole’s head towards her and kissed her. “We do. Very much so. In fact, so much so that-”

“I just got dressed, Waverly.”

“Well, you’re no fun.”

“You know damn well that’s not true.”

“I have no evidence of it.”

“Oh, really?” Nicole kissed Waverly again, pushing her back onto the bed as a faint ringing sound echoed through the room.

“What is that?” Waverly mumbled.

“Shit.” Nicole scrambled off the bed and over to her duty belt, pulling her regular phone out of one of the pouches. “I usually turn this off so Lucado can’t track me; I forgot.” She swallowed when she saw the caller I.D. “It’s Dolls.”

“Answer it.”

“What?”

“Uh, do you want to explain why you _didn’t_ answer?”

“… Good point.” Nicole slid the phone to answer and held it up to her ear. “Haught.” She paused for a long moment before blank shock and panic spread across her face. “I’m sorry, _what_? No, no. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone and just stared at it.

“Nicole? What’s wrong?”

“Do, uh…” Nicole paused, her voice staying calm but betraying her nerves by licking her lips. “Do you know where your sisters are right now?”

“Out looking for banks, I assume. Why?”

“Because somebody just robbed a cash exchange.”

“Okay-”

“And set it on fire.”

Waverly stared at her for a lengthy moment. “I’m going to fucking kill them.”

“That’s worse than arson.”

“Nic, now is really not the time for your snarky defense mechanism.”

“It’s all I’ve got.”

Waverly sighed and got to her feet, crossing the room to Nicole. “I know. I know.” She pulled Nicole into a soft kiss. “Go deal with your job. I’ll deal with my sisters.”

“Okay.” Nicole paused at the door. “They crossed a line, you know,” she whispered. “There’s no going back now. For any of us.”

Waverly studied her for a moment, standing there in the motel room with a pristine (if, as usual, slightly unbuttoned) police officer’s uniform on her body and a criminal’s kiss lingering on her lips.

“No. There’s not.”

“Be careful, Waverly,” Nicole whispered.

“You be careful too, Nicole.”

When the door shut behind her, Waverly realized that there was something very, very different that she wished she had said instead.

 

+++

 

When Wynonna and Willa got back to the motel, Wynonna was furious.

“I should just turn you in to the goddamn cops _myself_ ,” she snarled, tossing her bag onto the floor and kicking over the trashcan. “Exactly how _stupid_ are you, Will? Huh? How _stupid_ are you?”

“It was just a little fire,” Willa retorted. “I needed an excuse to flee the building after I had grabbed the money.”

“A _little fire_?” Waverly repeated incredulously. “Willa, the whole building burned down. Six people were taken to the hospital. You’re lucky nobody _died_.”

“It’s not my fault they didn’t run fast enough,” Willa sniffed.

Wynonna punched her square in the jaw.

Before it could degrade into an all-out fistfight, Waverly pushed her way between them. “ _That’s not going to help_ ,” she spat.

“Thank you for being the _logical_ one of my sisters.” Willa sounded only mildly annoyed, but there was pure rage in her eyes as she readjusted her jaw.

“Oh, trust me, I wish I had been the one to punch you. I just don’t see the fucking point. We have a six hour car ride together soon, and I for one would really not like to drive with the two of you pummeling each other the entire time.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Waves?” Wynonna asked, staring at Willa with a dark look.

“It’s certainly not here. Now get your shit together. We aren’t staying in this goddamn town one minute longer.”

“But-”

“ _Now, Willa._ ”

Muttering under her breath, Willa stalked off towards the bathroom to take a quick shower. Wynonna lowered her voice.

“I swear, Waverly, I didn’t know she was going to do it.”

“Wy, I really don’t think that’s going to matter.”

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 9 – ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A.**

 

The robbery in Atlanta went off smoothly, with no fire or cops anywhere to be seen.

Willa and Wynonna didn’t speak to each other through the whole mission, either.

The motel room got so uncomfortable that Waverly had to leave it, going out to a bar where she could sit and drink nice fruity alcohol and try to forget what she was.

After her fourth drink, she ducked out into a back alleyway and called Nicole.

“ _Your sisters are lucky no one died._ ”

“Hello to you too.”

“ _Sorry. I’m just angry._ ”

“Oh, I am too.” Waverly giggled.

“ _Yeah, you really sound angr… You’re drunk, aren’t you?_ ”

Waverly giggled again. “Only a little.”

“ _Jesus Christ._ ”

“What are you wearing, Nicole?”

“ _My police uniform._ ”

“Hot.”

“ _We’re not doing this._ ”

“Doing what?” Waverly asked innocently.

“ _You are a fugitive and I am at a police station, Waverly. For that among many reasons, we are not doing this right now._ ”

“I’m a fugitive, you’re at a police station, that’s what’s going to make it fun for me. Make you squirm.”

“ _Oh, God. Why did I choose you? What have I done?_ ”

“What have you done? Me.”

“ _Shut up._ ”

Waverly smirked. “Why don’t you make me?”

Nicole groaned softly. “ _We aren’t even in the same state, Wave._ ”

“You’re really bad at this game.”

“ _I really don’t want to play it._ ”

“Why not? You’d be good at it. You have a quick tongue.” Waverly paused. “In fact, it’s very skilled in many areas of-”

“ _I’m hanging up now._ ”

“I’m just going to call you again once you’re back at your hotel.”

A pause. “ _Well, I would probably play along then._ ”

“I thought you might. How badly are you blushing right now?”

“ _Hopefully not badly enough that Dolls notices._ ”

“Good luck!”

“ _Fuck you._ ”

Waverly grinned. “You’d enjoy that.”

With another groan, Nicole hung up the phone.

 

+++

 

Dolls watched as Nicole, red in the face, set down the cellphone she had been talking on. She seemed rather fond of whoever she had been speaking to, she had been smiling the whole time, but what caught his attention wasn’t her mood.

It was the phone.

A flip-style burner phone, completely different from the smartphone that she used for most personal calls and for work.

Nicole Haught had a second phone.

As he watched her slide the phone into her pocket, still grinning softly like she couldn’t help herself, the gears in his brain started working overtime.

And he started to worry.

 

+++

 

Waverly put her phone away, turned to head back into the bar, and found herself face to face with Constance Clootie.

“Shit,” she mumbled.

“Such terrible language,” Constance said in a silky voice. “I can see why you turned to a life of crime.”

“I’m pretty sure your boss caused that.”

“You three brought this on yourselves. Besides. I’ve seen how you handle the job. You all had this in your futures. It was just a matter of time.”

Waverly’s hands tightened into fists. “Go to hell.”

“No thank you.” Constance started circling Waverly slowly. “You know, Waverly, you have a very intriguing opportunity here.”

“Oh, do I?”

“Yes. You’ve got your filthy little hands on a cop.”

Waverly’s blood ran cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you do.” Constance stopped in front of her. “I have a proposal for you.”

“Sorry; I’m taken,” Waverly said sarcastically. “And I think you’re a little old for me.”

“Your snark will only get you so far, Waverly. It certainly won’t get you the money you need to pay off Bobo.”

Waverly snorted. “And what are you suggesting?”

“I can make him back off of Purgatory. Without the ten million dollars.”

“Well, that sounds like it has a huge catch to it.”

Constance smiled. “You need to finish the robberies. You need to give us all of the money you make from them.” She leaned forward. “And you need to give us Constable Nicole Haught.”

Waverly felt the blood drain from her face. “Fuck off.”

“Don’t make this decision so _quickly_ , Waverly. We aren’t going to hurt her. We just want her loyalty. We want her to work for us. Make sure any cases involving us that make their way to the RCMP get brushed under the rug. She’s low in the totem pole, but sometimes those kinds of people are the most dangerous. Especially if they’re smart. And we know you, Waverly. You wouldn’t screw around with someone who wasn’t smart.”

“I’m not bringing Nicole into this bullshit,” Waverly said hoarsely.

Constance patted her on the cheek patronizingly. “She’s already in it, sweetheart.” She turned to walk out of the alley, calling back over her shoulder. “You don’t need to decide until after you’ve hit every bank on your Tour de Crime. But you’ll never get the money you need. So you get to make a choice: your hometown, or whatever morals your corrupt girlfriend still has left.”

As Constance left, Waverly leaned against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the ground. She stared blankly at her phone before throwing it at the brick wall across from her, shattering it. Then she rested her head on her knees, took in a deep, shaky breath, and tried to stop wishing that she had had an opportunity to shoot Constance Clootie.


	17. So Tired Of Crying But I'm Out (On The Road Again)

_At no point did I want to hurt people._

_I guess I knew that people **could** get hurt. It’s an obvious possibility during an armed bank robbery. But I guess I had deluded myself into thinking that I had a shot of keeping what we were doing as nonviolent as possible. Keeping us… good._

_As if “good” was even possible anymore._

_I understand. I get it. We’re criminals. We’ll never be anything but criminals. You’ll never see me as anything other than a criminal trying to justify her actions, trying to explain the unexplainable._

_But for some reason, I know that you’ll at least listen. Hear what I’m saying. Hear that I’ve tried._

_I’ve already paid for my mistakes. I’m already going to pay more. I hope that you’ll accept that. That you won’t make it worse._

_Maybe it’s faith that’s unearned. But I’ve never had much faith in anything, and I’d like to have faith in this._

_Maybe I can trust you to at least do what I couldn’t._

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 10 – CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS, U.S.A.**

 

It took Waverly longer to find a publically accessible phone than she had expected, especially when she had to get away from her sisters in order to do it. When she finally managed, she briefly forgot the most recent number for Nicole, and almost panicked. When she finally got herself composed enough to get the call through, he brain was a cluttered mess.

“ _Waverly._ ”

“Nicole.”

“ _What’s up?_ ”

The other woman sounded tired, her voice strained and cracked. It worried Waverly, more than if Nicole hadn’t answered the phone at all. “I wanted to hear your voice. Are you okay?”

“ _Yeah, Waverly. I’m alright._ ”

“You’re sure?”

“ _I’m sure._ ”

“You’d tell me if you weren’t?”

Nicole gave a soft laugh. “ _Yes. You don’t need to worry about me so much, Wave._ ”

“Too late for that, Nic.” Waverly tightened her grip on the phone. “I need to talk to you. In detail. But I’ve lost my phone. I had to call from a payphone.”

“ _You found a payphone?_ ”

“Shut up. We need to talk. But I can’t talk right now. I just wanted you to know that I don’t have a phone, and I won’t for a while. We have a lot of traveling to do before I get a restock.”

“ _Do I want to know?_ ”

“… Alaska.”

“ _Christ, Waverly, why the fuck would you decide to do that?_ ”

“Well, nobody’s going to expect it.”

“ _Because it’s an asshole move._ ”

Waverly chuckled softly. “You’re only miserable because you’re going to have to be on a plane from Georgia to Alaska.”

“ _With Dolls and Lucado._ ”

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”

“ _You damn well better make it up to me._ ”

Waverly laughed again. “Trust me, Nicole. I plan on it.”

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 11 – REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA**

 

“I didn’t really miss it here,” Willa muttered, sitting at the table at the restaurant stirring her water with her straw.

“They’re still looking for us,” Wynonna said idly. “We should probably take a moment to bask in the glory of being so good at avoiding arrest.”

“We _almost_ got caught not that long ago.” Waverly played with her napkin. “We need to be more careful. Maybe we shouldn’t use the storage units again.”

Willa scoffed. “The units are handled in a completely different way in each city, Waverly. We’ll be fine.”

“You never seem all that concerned with whether or not we get arrested, Willa.”

“We knew it was a possibility. Hell, we knew it was _likely_. Who cares at this point if we take risks? Without them, we’ll have nothing.”

Waverly tightened her hand into a fist. “There’s a lot more at risk than you understand. You’re going to ruin so much, and you don’t even care.” She stood up and walked away to refill her soda.

“Something’s up with her,” Willa said, squinting after her little sister.

“It’s probably just stress,” Wynonna murmured.

“No. It’s more than that. I just haven’t figured out what it is yet.”

“Well, what’s going on with _you_?”

Willa turned to Wynonna, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“Fire, Will? Seriously?”

“God, not this again, Wynonna. I told you. I improvised.”

“And people got hurt.”

Willa slammed her hand down onto the table, drawing glances from the other customers. She lowered her voice to a hiss. “I’m trying my best, ‘Nonna. I’m doing what you _won’t_ do. I’m taking the real risks. You and Waverly utterly refuse to do that, and I can’t figure out why. It’s our only shot. Don’t you care what happens to Purgatory?”

“Of course I care. But I’m not willing to let other people get hurt- get _killed_ –just to protect my hometown. That’s not who I am.”

“Yes it is. If you think it isn’t, then you’re just as far gone as I am.” Willa grabbed her trash and stood to throw it out. “Which one of us has changed, Wynonna? Which one of us is losing sight of the goal?”

“I think it might be all three of us,” Wynonna admitted softly.

Willa scoffed, shook her head, and walked away.

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 13 – JUNEAU, ALASKA, U.S.A.**

 

While her sisters were out getting food for dinner, Waverly cracked open her newest burner phone and dialed in Nicole’s number.

“ _I hope you’re not going to start one of those, uh, ‘conversations’ again._ ”

“What, you didn’t like getting flustered in the middle of a police station?”

“ _It would be less awkward if it wasn’t you._ ”

“Thanks a lot, Nicole.”

“ _I have a point._ ”

“You do. Are you at the station?”

“ _No. I’m at the hotel._ ”

“So, technically, I _could_ -”

“ _Waverly. You wanted to talk to me._ ”

“I did. I just was kind of hoping you’d be in a good mood when I did.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “ _Waverly, what’s going on?_ ”

Waverly took in a long, slow breath. “Bobo Del Ray has a second-in-command. Constance Clootie. She found me in Atlanta.”

“ _Oh. Let me guess. She didn’t come to cancel your debt._ ”

“Well, sort of? Except not at all.” Waverly swallowed, closing her eyes. “She said she’d get rid of the ten million dollar deal. If we gave her everything we made from all of the robberies we’ve done and all of the other robberies we have left. And…”

“ _And?_ ”

“And she wants you. In her pocket. Doing whatever the hell they want and brushing aside whatever cases they ask you to brush aside.”

It was several seconds before Nicole responded, in a voice so quiet Waverly almost didn’t hear it. “ _Do you want me to do it?_ ”

Waverly’s brain went blank, and she felt her heartbeat in her throat. “God, Nicole, no,” she whispered. “You can’t.”

“ _You’re running out of choices, Waverly. I’m not saying I want to. But if you need to-_ ”

“Nicole, I am not going to let you do that,” Waverly interrupted firmly. “You’ve given up enough. You’ve done _enough_. And I’m not saying that what I’ve done to you isn’t going to take more by the end of it. But I am _not_ letting you lose the only thing you have left.”

“ _What do I have left, Waverly? I’m already a corrupt cop. What you’re suggesting is just slightly different version._ ”

“It’s completely different. It’s _completely_ different. The things they’ll ask you to do… Nicole, it’s not going to be the same. I’m going to deal with this. I’ll figure it out. I just had to tell you about it. I am _not_ expecting you to give in to them.”

“ _You know I trust you. You know I would never agree to something like that if there was any other choice. But I don’t want you to sacrifice your hometown just to save me morals that I’ve already given up._ ”

Waverly closed her eyes, the hand holding the phone starting to tremble. “Nicole. You’re better than that.”

“ _Am I?_ ”

“Of course you are. You aren’t usually like this. What’s the matter? What’s wrong? You’re freaking me out.”

There was a long pause. “ _I don’t know. I think I’m just tired._ ”

“Why don’t you get some rest, okay? We’ll talk about this later. We don’t need to talk about it right now. I just needed to tell you what was going on.”

“ _I appreciate that._ ”

“Goodnight, Nicole.”

Nicole gave a soft sigh. “ _Goodnight, Waverly._ ”

Waverly set the phone down and stared at the ceiling. “What have I done?” she whispered.


	18. I Don't Care How Wrong It Is, I've Got (Good Intentions)

_Waverly could’ve told us. She could’ve told us the truth._

_Normally I will accept when things are my fault, but I won’t take responsibility for what happened in Winnipeg._

_Waverly should’ve told us what she was doing with Nicole. It was stupid, and dangerous, and put us all at risk. Put Nicole at risk. Put everything at risk._

_Those idiot kids should’ve seen disaster coming. They’re both smarter than that. They’re smart enough that they should’ve known what was going to happen._

_It wasn’t my fault._

_If I keep telling myself that, eventually I’ll believe it._

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 20 – VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA**

“The moment I find these people, I’m going to shoot them.”

Dolls shot Nicole a look behind Lucado’s back and rolled his eyes. “You don’t mean that.”

Lucado snorted. “Don’t I? They’re making us look like idiots.” She rounded on Nicole. “What, no smartass comment, Haught? Not in the mood today? What’s wrong?”

Nicole rubbed a hand over her face like she had a headache. “Lucado, can you just leave me alone?” she asked in a dull voice. “Seriously, just back off.”

“Why should I?”

“I don’t know, maybe because we have better things to do?”

“You’re right. We do.” Lucado picked up the list of storage units in Vancouver. “Like finding out where these assholes are hitting next. Maybe this time nobody will tip them off.” With a humorless grin, she left the room.

Dolls watched Nicole for a moment, as she gave a tired sigh and dumped an unreasonable amount of sugar into her coffee. “Haught.” After several seconds in which she didn’t respond, he repeated, “Haught?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. This… This whole thing is just taking a lot out of me.”

“You get used to the bullshit eventually.”

Nicole gave a soft laugh. “I’m not sure I want to.”

“That’s okay too.”

Her smile was as dull as her voice. “No. It’s not.”

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 23 – WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA**

 

As Waverly headed out to the SUV, the phone in her pocket started to buzz. She pulled it out and answered it with a quick, “What’s wrong?”

“ _First of all, ouch for thinking something has to be wrong just because I’m calling you. Second of all, don’t go today._ ”

“What?”

“ _Lucado found your unit in Vancouver. We’re in Winnipeg right now, and she’s pretty damn positive that she knows what you’re going to rob._ ”

“Shit.” Waverly glanced back at the motel, where Wynonna and Willa were still getting ready. “I thought we hid those things better.”

“ _I thought you did, too, but she keeps finding them. Waverly, I can’t hold her off. The only chance you have is to stop._ ”

“Convincing my sisters of that will be fun.”

“ _Considering the last time they were stopped they firebombed a building? Yeah, I can imagine._ ”

Waverly winced. “I’m sorry.”

“ _I don’t blame you._ ”

“But you do blame them.”

Silence. “ _Don’t go today, Waverly._ ”

The phone clicked off, and Waverly sighed as she put it back in her pocket. Wynonna and Willa walked out of the motel, disguises on and bags over their shoulders.

“We can’t go.”

They both stared at her. “Why not?”

“Cops.”

Wynonna snorted. “Where?”

Waverly tensed, anxiety prickling up her spine. “Look, there’s going to be cops at the bank. We can’t hit it today. It’s too dangerous.”

“And how exactly do you know that there will be cops?” Willa demanded.

“I just know, okay? Just _trust me_.”

Willa grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her close. “Maybe I’d trust you if you explained why the hell you have such a good sixth sense for law enforcement.”

“Please,” Waverly whispered. “Please just believe me.” Her gaze shifted to her other sister. “Wynonna, you can’t do this.”

“We don’t have a choice.” Willa released Waverly and rounded on Wynonna. “We’re running out of time, and we are _tragically low_ on money. There is no option. We have to risk it.”

“You _can’t_.”

“Waverly, we’ll be fine,” Wynonna murmured. “You don’t have to come with us. We’ll figure it out.”

“But-”

“Shut your mouth.” Willa shoved her backwards. “I really wish I knew what had turned you into such a coward.”

“I’m not being a _coward_ , Willa, I’m trying to keep us all out of _prison_. Why are you such an _idiot_?”

As Wynonna got into the driver’s seat, looking conflicted, Willa shrugged. “Because right now, there aren’t any backup plans.”

They drove off, leaving Waverly standing on the curb outside of the motel.

 

+++

 

The robbery went off with out a hitch.

The escape, decidedly, did not.

Police and SWAT were outside of the building moments after their bags were full of money, and the only solution was to go deeper into the office building the bank was in, fleeing up the stairs and hoping for the best.

Wynonna and Willa were surrounded, with no conceivable way out.

They heard police swarming the floors below them as they hit the fifth floor and ran directly into a young redheaded cop who didn’t even have her gun out. They just pushed past her, heading towards one of the staircases, when the cop yelled, “ _Earp!_ ”

Willa and Wynonna both stopped in their tracks and rounded on her.

“What the hell did you just say?” Wynonna asked in a low growl as Willa circled behind the cop.

“Your last name.”

The cop was unreasonably calm, watching them carefully but not seeming the slightest bit interested in their presence.

“How the hell do you know that?” Willa demanded.

“It’s not important. Take the east stairwell. SWAT is above us on west; they’ll catch you in seconds if you go there. If you get all the way up to the roof on east, you can pass over to the office building next door and come down the fire escape outside of the police perimeter.”

Willa grabbed the cop by her shirt and pushed her up against the wall. “Why should we trust some fucking cop?”

She just smirked. “I don’t know. Why should I believe you won’t light a building on fire the moment you get out of here?”

Wynonna watched the confrontation uneasily, her fingers drumming on the grip of her gun. “Willa, let’s just go. Come on. We’ll deal with it later. There’s more important problems to worry about.”

“Listen to your sister. Lucado will be here any minute, and _trust me_ , you do _not_ want her to be the one to arrest you. _Go!_ ”

Willa released the cop like she didn’t want to, heading over to Wynonna and following her to the east stairwell.

“If your car is inside the perimeter, don’t go near it until tomorrow at the earliest,” the cop said, stepping off the wall and irritably readjusting her uniform. “Send Waverly for it. That’s the only way you’ll be able to-”

Her words were drowned out as Willa raised a gun and shot her in the chest.


	19. I Thread The Needle Through, You (Beat The Devil's Tattoo)

_As a kid, Willa was my best friend. But I always sided with Waverly._

_I’m not entirely sure why. I guess it’s because she was the baby, y’know? She needed someone in her corner. Someone to support her. Even somebody that nobody expected much form. Someone like me._

_The one time that she really, really needed me to side with her over Willa, I picked Willa._

_I let my own desperation get the best of me._

_And I’m not sure Waverly will ever forgive me._

 

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 23 – WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA**

 

Wynonna and Willa didn’t speak until they got outside of the perimeter. Once they did, Wynonna shoved Willa away from her.

“ _WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?_ ”

“Relax, Wynonna, she was wearing a vest. We both saw it.”

“I don’t give a shit if she was in _full SWAT gear_. You _shot a cop, Willa_.”

Willa grabbed Wynonna by her collar and shook her. “Did you trust her? Really? Did you trust a cop that swoops in out of nowhere to help us?”

“We listened to her, didn’t we?”

“I don’t give a shit. I didn’t kill her. I warned her. Whoever the hell she’s really working for had damn well better leave us alone.” Willa turned and continued walking.

“She saved us, Will,” Wynonna said softly. “She saved us, and you shot her.”

“Yes.”

“Is that really all you have to say?”

Willa shrugged. “I guess it is.”

She walked away, leaving Wynonna standing alone in the middle of the sidewalk.

 

+++

 

“This isn’t really like them,” Dolls said, sitting down across from Lucado. “Something’s changed. They’re getting desperate, or they’re feeling cornered. This violence is significantly above anything I would’ve expected from them.”

“We’re finally getting somewhere. This is good.”

“Good?” Dolls kept his voice quiet. “Nicole got _shot_. Maybe she only has a few bruised ribs. But they _shot her_ , Lucado.”

“Hm.”

Dolls stared at her. “You’re not seriously thinking that she _let them_ shoot her. She could’ve gotten _seriously_ hurt.”

“She didn’t.” Lucado stared at the evidence board, looking at the map of the robberies. “What was Haught’s story again?”

“That she was checking the fifth floor for civilians, turned the corner towards the stairwells, and was immediately shot.”

“Didn’t see the faces of the robbers.”

“No.”

“Thought she saw them go into the west staircase, but got it wrong, because they escaped out the east.”

“Yeah, that’s what she told us.”

“Hm,” Lucado said again. “Conveniently unverifiable.”

Dolls scoffed. “You really do hate that kid, don’t you?”

“I don’t trust her.” Lucado stood, picking up her tea. “And I’m getting my answers.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“By giving her a lie detector.”

 

+++

 

Nicole and Lucado just stared at each other across the table as the polygraph machine was set up between them.

“Are you even qualified to conduct this exam, or are you just here to be a jackass?” Nicole asked calmly.

“I’m qualified. I’m also wondering how long it’s going to be before you’re sitting here lying to me about what actually is going on.”

“You’re really so confident that I’m lying.”

Lucado smiled. “Yes. I am.”

“It’ll be a shame to see you disappointed.”

Once the test was set up, Lucado leaned back in her chair. “I’m going to ask five test questions. Answer ‘yes’ to all of them.”

“Only if it’s not a trap.”

Lucado glared at her.

“Just ask the goddamn questions, Lucado.”

“Is your name Nicole Haught?”

“Yes.”

“Did you attend private school?”

“Yes.”

“Are you a member of the RCMP?”

“Yes.”

“Is your hair blonde?”

“Yes.”

“Is this room on fire?”

“Yes.”

“Are you twenty years old?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Lucado said. “That takes care of that. Now we get to the _real_ questions.”

“I’m thrilled.”

Lucado went through several standard questions, trying to poke and prod Nicole into admitting knowing anything about the robberies. Then, she got to the ones she really wanted to ask.

“Did you know that the bank robbers left through the east staircase?”

“No.”

“Did you lie about the robbers exiting through the west staircase?”

“No.”

“Did you see who shot you?”

“No.”

“Did you in any way intentionally assist the bank robbers in escaping from law enforcement?”

“No.”

“Do you know the identities of any of the bank robbers we have been searching for?”

Nicole licked her lips, glanced down at the machine, and then met Lucado’s gaze evenly.

“No.”

Lucado stared at the machine for a long moment before swallowing and leaning back in her chair again. “That’s all the questions I have today, Constable Haught.”

“Great. Now if you don’t mind, my ribs are killing me, so I’m going home.”

Once Nicole left, Dolls walked into the room.

“Well?”

Lucado stared at the machine, her face full of disbelief. “She passed. Without question.”

“I guess that settles it, then.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Dolls sighed. “Why not?”

“Because polygraphs are bullshit.”

“Why even _give her one_ , then?”

“Because I wanted her to look me in the eye and tell me that she’s not involved. And I didn’t believe her.” Lucado stood, glaring down at the paper in her hand. “I’m going to figure this out. Whatever it takes.”

 

+++

 

Waverly paced back and forth in the motel room, terrified out of her mind. She couldn’t reach Wynonna or Willa. She couldn’t reach Nicole. The room they were in had no television, and she was, quite frankly, too afraid to leave.

She didn’t know what was going on, and it truly, deeply scared her.

The knock on the door startled her, but she was so distracted that she didn’t even think to check who it was before she opened the door.

To find Nicole Haught, in jeans and a dark blue t-shirt, leaning in her doorway.

“Nicole? How the hell did you-”

“Tracked your phone.” Nicole swung into the room unsteadily, pushing past Waverly and almost stumbling before she just rested against the wall.

As Waverly shut the door, she asked, “Why are you acting so weird?”

“ _You’re_ acting weird,” Nicole mumbled rebelliously.

“Are you _drunk_?”

Nicole gave a soft laugh and rested her head back against the wall. “Probably. Probably doesn’t help that I mixed it with oxycodone.”

“Jesus Christ. Why would you do that?”

Nicole laughed loudly this time, leaning over slightly only to wince and rest a hand on her ribs. “Because I got fucking _shot_.”

The blood drained from Waverly’s face. “You _what_?”

“ _I got fucking shot._ ” Nicole continued to laugh, staggering away from the wall to stand in the middle of the room.

“How? When? Shit, Nicole, what the hell is going on?”

All laughter faded off of Nicole’s face as quickly as it had appeared. “You need to stop this.”

“Stop… what?” Utter confusion settled over Waverly as she watched Nicole pace.

“All of it. Just stop it. Just _end_ it. It’s not worth it. None of it is worth it.”

“Nicole, you know that we can’t. It’s not that simple. Would you just-”

“ _People got hurt, Waverly!_ ” Nicole snapped, whirling on her heel to face Waverly. “I warned you, I warned your sisters, and _people got hurt_. They _lit a building on fire_. That’s my fault! That’s on me! And then for some _stupid_ reason, I helped them. _Again_. And they’re probably out there right now, getting more people _hurt_!”

“The fire was reckless, I know, but…” Waverly trailed off, dread settling over her. “Nicole, please tell me my sisters didn’t shoot you.”

Nicole gave another sharp laugh. “Oh, I would, but that would be a lie. So maybe I _should_ tell you that, because as I keep proving, I am _nothing_ but a _liar_!”

Waverly took a step forward, concern flooding through her. “Nicole, sweetheart-”

“I threw everything away. _Everything_. And people are getting hurt because of it. People are going to get _killed_ because of it. And I knew that I was probably going to end up dying because of my choices. I had already accepted that. But I refuse to get killed by one of _your own sisters_. And I’ve had _enough_ , Waverly. I can’t _take it_ anymore. I can’t. I can’t. I’m not worth anything anymore, so what’s the _fucking point_ of-”

“Nicole, stop. I swear to God, if you don’t stop, I’m going to punch you in the mouth.” Waverly softened almost immediately as the words escaped her. “With my own mouth,” she added awkwardly.

Nicole gave her a look similar to one a golden retriever puppy gives a ball that’s disappeared under the sofa. “What?”

“I’m going to kiss you, Nicole.”

“What part of that-”

Waverly crossed the remaining distance between them and pulled the unsteady Nicole into a slow kiss. “Stop, Nicole. Just stop. This isn’t your fault. _We’re_ not your fault. And I swear to you, if I could undo what I’ve done to your life, I would.” She stroked her hand down Nicole’s cheek. “I don’t want to see you like this. I never wanted that.” Her voice dropped to a mumble. “I love you.”

Nicole blinked, the words not quite getting past the mixture of alcohol and drugs in her brain. “What?”

Waverly’s hands fluttered over her chest briefly before resting against Nicole’s neck. “You really got shot?”

“I really got shot.”

“God, Nicole.” Waverly kissed her again, softly. “Sit down, okay? Just sit down. You’re a mess.”

“I feel really good, though.”

“Because you’re drunk off your ass.”

Nicole rubbed at her head, swaying slightly. “Maybe.”

Waverly gave a quiet, affectionate chuckle and steered Nicole to the bed. “Not maybe. Yes.”

Once she had gotten Nicole to lay down, she sat on the bed next to her, running her fingers along Nicole’s arm.

“I’m mad at you,” she whispered. “But I’ll be mad at you in the morning. I can’t do it right now.”

“Seems fair,” Nicole muttered. She was silent for a long moment, her eyes closed, and Waverly had started to think she had fallen asleep when she whispered, “Waverly?”

“Yes, Nicole?”

Her voice was shaky and quiet, but clear enough. “I love you too.”


	20. (Two Black Cadillacs) Meeting For The First Time

_If you had asked me, when this started, what I wanted to get out of this all, I would’ve told you that all I wanted was Purgatory. All I wanted was for my town to be safe. At some point, vengeance for my father crept into play, too._

_Without even realizing it, adrenaline and excitement came into play as well. And I suppose, just enough greed that it scared me._

_If you asked me now? What I got out of all of this? I’m not sure what I could possibly say._

_I lost my sisters. I lost my town. I lost myself._

_What was the point?_

_I have no idea._

+++

 

**SEPTEMBER 24 – WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA**

 

It was after midnight when Willa and Wynonna made their way back to the motel room, finding Waverly pacing across the floor and the cop they had shot passed out one of the beds.

Within seconds, all hell broke loose.

“What the fuck is _she_ doing here? If I shoot somebody, I expect them to _take a fucking hint_.” Willa started towards Nicole, but Waverly intercepted her halfway there and held her back.

“Don’t,” Waverly said, her voice quiet and tightly controlled.

“What do you mean-”

Waverly punched her.

They both got several hits in during the ensuing fistfight before Wynonna managed to push between them to break them up, and when they were separated Willa’s nose was bleeding and Waverly had a bruise forming under her eye.

“Knock it off! Both of you!”

“I’m going to kill her,” Waverly snarled. “Do you even realize what you've  _done_ , Willa? What you’ve _turned us into_? Forget armed robbery. Forget arson. We’re on the hook for _attempted murder of a police officer_. We’re _doomed_ , and it’s all because of _you_!”

Willa gave a crazed laugh. “Are you overlooking the fact that that cop is asleep in our room? Because maybe we should talk about that. We have no idea why she helped us. We have no idea who she really is. Hell, Waverly, how did she even find us? Find you? Figure out our names? Yeah, she knows our names. For all we know, she’s working with Bobo!”

Waverly’s eyes went cold, and her voice dropped to a low growl. “She’s not working with Bobo.”

“How do you-”

“She’s sleeping with me.”

A deafening silence filled the room. Willa’s voice broke it first, so softly that it was barely audible. “You’re screwing a _cop_?”

“Yes.”

“Are you _joking_?” Willa laughed humorlessly. “That’s how you knew. The two times the cops closed in on us. Your cop… _pet_ told you about it.”

Waverly swallowed and gritted her teeth. “Yes.”

“Unbelievable. You yell at me for putting us at risk, but you sneak around behind our backs. You give our secrets away to a goddamn cop. You _screw around_ with someone on the force trying to put us all in prison. You endangered all of us, but _I’m_ the one who’s the problem.”

Waverly laughed. “Willa, please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I’m really not.”

“You _shot my girlfriend_.”

“Just because your idiot lover decided to put herself in harm’s way doesn’t make it my fault.”

Waverly pushed towards her again as if she was going to take another swing at her sister, but Wynonna held her off. “ _You literally pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger!_ And I know damn well that there’s no way that Nicole gave you _any_ reason for it! Stop making fucking excuses, Willa, and just accept the fact that you _screwed up_.”

Willa chuckled softly. “I’m not going to take any moral speeches from you right now. Not from a mouth that’s been on a corrupt cop.”

“Go to hell,” Waverly snarled.

“You first,” Willa challenged.

“That’s enough,” Wynonna murmured. “That’s enough. Stop it. Both of you, just stop.”

“You’ve been awfully quiet, ‘Nonna,” Willa said, still glaring at Waverly. “Don’t you have anything to say about all of this?”

Wynonna stayed silent for a long moment before meeting Waverly’s gaze. “You know how bad of an idea this is, right? You know this is only going to get both of you hurt?”

“Yeah. But I can’t do anything about it.”

“Why?”

Waverly gave a helpless shrug. “Because I love her, Wynonna.”

Wynonna hesitated, then lightly pushed Waverly’s head to one side. “Okay,” she whispered. “Okay.”

“Are you serious?” Willa scoffed and shook her head. “Are you _serious_ , Wynonna? You can’t actually think that-”

“I _swear to God_ , _Willa, I’ll-_ ”

There was a faint whimper from the bed, as Nicole shifted the wrong way and put pressure on her bruised ribs.

“The pain medication must be wearing off,” Waverly said softly, all of the fight disappearing from her as she crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to Nicole.

She rested a hand on Nicole’s neck, lightly brushing her cheek with her thumb.

“Wave,” Nicole mumbled under her breath.

“Shhh,” Waverly said, her voice low and gentle. “Shhh shhshhshh. You’re okay. Go back to sleep.” She pressed a kiss to Nicole’s forehead and stroked her hand over Nicole’s hair.

As Waverly whispered comfortingly to Nicole, Willa narrowed her eyes. “But-”

“Willa, shut up,” Wynonna said, watching Waverly with a soft gaze.

“But I-”

Wynonna rested a hand on her older sister’s shoulder and shook her head. “Just shut up.”

 

+++

 

The night was awkward and silent. By ten in the morning, Wynonna and Willa were already in the motel’s bar drinking.

“You know she screwed up, right?” Willa asked. “Waverly. She screwed up.”

“We all screwed up. You shot someone. You don’t get to judge her for her mistakes.”

Willa leaned forward. “But you agree with me. That dating a cop is a mistake.”

“Of course it’s a _mistake_ , Will, we’re _criminals_. They’re relationship is mildly unhealthy at best and is bound to end up completely disastrous for both of them. I just think that we’ve all made such shitty decisions along the way, during this plan, this mission, that we have no right to criticize hers.”

Willa played with her glass for a moment. “They’re both going to end up destroyed by the end of this.”

“Especially if you keep trying to shoot Haught,” Wynonna muttered.

“I’m serious, Wynonna.”

“I know. And I agree.” Wynonna took a sip of whiskey and sighed. “But I think it’s already far too late for either of them to do anything about it.”

 

+++

 

“You can have Advil, but luckily for you, there’s no oxy here,” Waverly said, handing Nicole a glass of water as the cop sat on the motel room bed.

“It was prescribed. I got _shot_ , remember?”

“You’re going to milk that, aren’t you?”

“Only a little. Because _your sister_ shot me.”

Waverly’s jaw tensed. “I feel guilty enough, Nicole, I don’t need any reminders.”

“You’re the one passive-aggressively accusing me of a drug problem.”

“You showed up at my door on pills and drunk. Pardon me for not exactly thinking the best of you in the moment.”

Nicole fiddled with her glass, staring down at it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve just showed up like that. Especially not the way I was.”

“In a way I’m glad you did.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because now I know that you’re a _fucking idiot_.”

Nicole blinked up at her, baffled as Waverly’s voice shifted from calm to angry as easily as if a switch had been flipped. “I-I don’t-”

“You said that you’ve accepted that you’re going to die because of this, Nicole. You’ve _accepted that_. You _cannot accept that_ , because _I_ can’t accept it. I can’t lose you, understand? So get your goddamn head back on straight and figure out that your life is actually fucking worth something, because you do _not_ get to just _give up on it_. You don’t get to do that, Nicole. Not now.”

“Then _when_ , Waverly?” Nicole snapped, surging to her feet faster than Waverly had expected. “When’s a better time than now? I’ve thrown _everything_ away. The only thing I still have are a few mangled pieces of myself, a few scraps of my morality that have managed to sneak through the corruption that I allowed to happen _oh so quickly_. All I have left is that, and _you_.”

Waverly blinked and started to speak, but Nicole cut her off.

“I’m probably going to get killed, Waverly. That’s how this story _always ends_. There are no happy endings for people like me, for people who have surrendered everything they’ve ever worked for, but the _one thing_ that I _can_ do is make sure that you get as close to _your_ happy ending as you can possibly get. That you actually finish this goddamn mission, because if you don’t finish it, then what’s the fucking point of all of this?”

“The point is that we tried,” Waverly retorted. “It is _not_ your responsibility to make sure that we get anywhere, Nicole. And I understand that you’ve given up a lot for me. I understand that you lit your entire world on fire for the sake of helping me. Trust me, I live with the guilt of that _every day_. But don’t you _dare_ act like I would be willing to sacrifice you just to beat Bobo. Don’t even _try_ to think that. If I refuse to lose anything, it is not this mission, it is _you_ , you _asshole_.”

They just stared at each other for a long moment, both of them shaking with anger. Then they moved forward at the exact same second, kissing with such determination that they almost collapsed.

They both staggered back, neither saying anything aside from a quick groan of pain from Nicole as they fell backwards onto the bed.

 

+++

 

That night, the sisters left for their next robbery. Nicole left for her hotel.

When she got there, she found Dolls leaning against her door.

“Where have you been?” he asked softly.

“Wandering,” Nicole replied. “I was given the day because I was shot, remember? I didn’t feel like sitting in my room for hours on end.” She pushed past him and put her keycard into the door.

As she opened into her room, Dolls chuckled quietly. “You’re a good cop, Nicole.”

Nicole gritted her teeth, lingering in the doorway and not looking at him. “Thanks.”

“And a good liar.”

She turned to face him, not too quickly but certainly not slowly, either. “What?”

His eyes were sad. “Lucado is right, isn’t she? You work for the bank robbers. Or with them. Whatever. You’re in their pocket.”

Nicole’s jaw tensed, but she maintained her neutral expression. “What makes you say that?”

“A few hunches. The way you’ve disappeared both times the robbers got away from police intervention. That burner phone in your pocket.”

“No real evidence, then, huh?” Nicole said, just a slight edge of sarcasm to her voice.

Dolls gave a humorless laugh. “I guess not. You know, I trusted you, Nicole. And I’m not even kidding about you being a good cop. You really are. That’s what’s such a shame about this whole thing. You’re a good cop, except that you aren’t at all.”

“Yeah, well, you’re going to have to prove it.”

She started to continue into her room, but Dolls grabbed her arm. “Stop this now, Nicole. I can help you. If you stop this before Lucado finds out, I can still help you.”

Nicole paused, then gave him a look filled with such exhaustion that he took a step back. She smirked faintly. “Nobody can help us, Dolls. All you can do is hope you don’t get dragged down too.”

Before another word could be said, she shut the door in his face.


	21. (Ain't No Rest For The Wicked) Money Don't Grow On Trees

_I don’t think it ever sank in. What it meant when Willa shot Nicole. That we had officially gone from bank robbers to the kind of people who would shoot cops._

_Even if Nicole is who she is. Despite that. Willa changed everything for us that day._

_She made us violent. She upped the game._

_She forced Waverly to tell us about a relationship that she had been hiding from us for a reason._

_I know that I said that Waverly could’ve told us. The truth is, she could’ve told **me**._

_The more I write this, the longer I think about it, Willa would never have been able to handle that. Not without hurting Nicole. She just doesn’t trust. Other people. Cops._

_Waverly._

_At the end of the day, I think I need to accept that. Willa doesn’t trust Waverly. Even though she’s our little sister. Even though she’s done nothing wrong. She’s done nothing but fall in love and struggle to handle that alongside the lives we live._

_I’ll never understand why that isn’t good enough for Willa._

+++

 

**OCTOBER 3 – AUGUSTA, MAINE, U.S.A.**

 

The robberies in Prince Rupert and Augusta both went off like clockwork, but the relationship between the sisters had disintegrated to a point where such a feat was almost unbelievable.

Car rides had turned silent, breaks were much more infrequent, and when they weren’t working on a plan, none of them were speaking.

When they got back to their motel after robbing a bank in Augusta, Waverly finally broke the awkward standoff.

“I’m going to call Nicole.”

“No, you’re not,” Willa growled.

Waverly laughed. “You can’t exactly stop me.”

Willa pushed her back as if keeping her in the room. “You wanna bet, brat? I’m not going to let you risk our destiny just so that you can get laid.”

“Look, I’m going to say this in the most polite way I can manage right now,” Waverly said tiredly. “Go to hell. Whatever you do, just leave me and Nicole alone. I don’t care whether you approve. I just want to see her.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and walked out of the room.

“Can you believe the audacity?” Willa said with a laugh. “Does she actually think this is going to end well?”

“She’s trying to be normal, for whatever it’s worth. Let her have that much, Will.” Wynonna walked over to the desk, set her back down, and started counting her money.

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 4 – AUGUSTA, MAINE, U.S.A.**

 

“Where are your sisters?” Nicole asked softly as Waverly pulled her into the motel room.

“I kicked them out. They’re probably at a bar.” Waverly pushed Nicole into the desk chair and rested her hands on the chair’s arms. “There have been… comments. Mostly from Willa. They’re concerned about what we’re doing.”

“They probably should be.”

“I know. I just don’t care.” Waverly kissed her slowly. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Better now.” Nicole paused. “I’m fine.”

“You realize that you lick your lips when you’re stressed, right? You should never play poker.” Waverly kissed her again. “It’s cute, but it gives you away completely.”

“I was always planning on telling you. I’ve just been working on how best to approach the subject.”

“What subject?”

“I… screwed up.”

Waverly toyed with the collar of Nicole’s uniform. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I didn’t _specifically_ say anything, but… I all but confirmed to Dolls that I’m in your pocket.”

“What.” Waverly straightened, leaning back so that she was standing in front of Nicole. “You did _what_?”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was tired, and a little flustered, and if I’m being quite honest I was in fairly severe pain, because you utterly ruined my ribs.”

“That was your fault,” Waverly muttered.

“Didn’t exactly see you complaining.” Nicole looked down and sighed. “He hasn’t said anything else. I’ve been as careful as I can be. But I screwed up, and it might cost us both.”

Waverly stroked her cheek gently. “It’s not your fault. I mean, you totally did it, but it’s okay. Trust me, I’ve screwed up pretty badly myself. We’ll survive it.”

“And if we don’t?”

“We’ll survive it.” Waverly cautiously ran her fingers over the spot where Nicole had been shot. “You’re okay, though? Or at least better?”

“I’m always better when I’m with you.”

“That’s probably not true, but you do somehow get even more adorable.” Waverly’s hand drifted down to Nicole’s belt. “How are your ribs right now?”

“Fine.”

Waverly smirked. “I wonder how fast I can change that.”

“You’re the worst.”

Waverly kissed her. “I know.”

 

+++

 

Wynonna sat at the bar, sipping whiskey and waiting for Willa to return from wherever she had disappeared to. As she sat, someone took the barstool next to her.

It took a few moments for her to realize that it was Nicole Haught.

“Are you done screwing my sister?” Wynonna asked casually. “I have a gun, you know.”

Nicole leaned against the counter gingerly, her hand pressed against her side. “That’s not as funny when your other sister actually _did_ shoot me.”

“Fair enough.”

They sat there in silence for a long moment. Then, softly, Nicole said, “I love her. Waverly. I’m in love with her.”

Wynonna laughed into her whiskey. “At this point, you’d better be either in love with her or insane.”

“I suppose, given what I’ve done to my career, both might be true.”

“What do you want from her, Officer?”

“Constable,” Nicole corrected, as if by impulse. “I’m RCMP.”

Wynonna snorted. “Where’s the red?”

“You know damn well we don’t wear that.”

“I do, but you’re a corrupt cop who sneaks around behind my back and fucks my baby sister. I’m going to give you whatever shit I want to give you.”

Nicole took a slow sip from the water in her hand. “That’s fair.” She hesitated. “As for what I want from her? Nothing. She doesn’t owe me anything. I just love her.”

“You’re both doomed. You realize that, right? There’s no getting away from this. This level of secrets and lies and betrayal can only go for so long before it destroys everything that it built.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“What are you going to do when it happens?”

Nicole smiled faintly. “Whatever I can to keep Waverly from getting caught in the crossfire.”

Wynonna echoed her smile and took a sip of whiskey. “Then I guess I can allow you to stick around for now.”

 

+++

 

The moment Willa started to head back towards the bar, Nicole walked away. She headed back upstairs, where Waverly had been showering.

“Where did you go?” she asked as Nicole walked into the motel room.

“I had a chat with your sister. The one that didn’t shoot me. Wynonna?”

“Yeah. Why would you do that?”

Nicole shrugged. “Seemed like the polite thing to do.”

Waverly sat down on the bed, her shoulders slumping. “I’m tired, Nicole.”

“You should get some sleep,” Nicole said, sitting down on the other bed across from her.

“I don’t mean like that. Well, I mean, _also_ like that. But I mean that I’m tired of _this_. I’m tired of the mission. I’m tired of the crime. I’m tired of all of it. I just want to tell Bobo to fuck off and hope for the best and run off to some nice, pretty, cold city where we can be happy and healthy and not in prison or getting shot at.”

A smile flickered across Nicole’s face. “We?”

“Shut up, you know I want you.”

“Still nice to hear it.” Nicole shifted forward, reaching out to take Waverly’s hands in hers. “I know you’re tired. But you’re so _close_. At this point, if you give up, you’ll never be able to live with yourself.”

“You told me to give it up. Not that long ago. What changed?”

“Nothing. I still want you to stop. But I understand that you can’t, and I’m not about to make you do something that I know you _can’t_ do. Give up.”

“I want to,” Waverly said with a strained laugh. “God, do I want to.”

“I know, baby,” Nicole whispered. “But you’ll get through it. You will.”

Waverly reached up and took Nicole’s face in her hands. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“No matter how this ends, remember that. Okay?”

“Only if you promise to do the same.”

Waverly stroked her thumbs across Nicole’s cheeks. “I promise.”

 

+++

 

“Maybe we can make a deal with Bobo,” Willa whispered to Wynonna, sitting next to her at the bar.

“There’s no way.”

“Okay, well, what about kidnapping?”

Wynonna snorted. “Who would we kidnap?”

Willa shrugged. “Waverly’s golden retriever puppy could probably net some good money in ransom if we faked kidnapping her and petitioned the Canadian government.”

“We aren’t holding Nicole for ransom, Willa. That’s absurd.”

“When did we start calling her ‘Nicole’?”

Wynonna shook her head. “Just leave them alone, Will, okay? Let them have their peace.”

“What about _our_ peace, Wynonna? I’m telling you, we should talk to Bobo.”

“And I’m telling you that there’s no new deal that we could possibly live with.”

Willa’s voice hardened. “I could live with a lot, Wynonna. I could live with anything that would allow us to win.”

“There are no winners,” Wynonna replied. “Dealing with Bobo isn’t an option. Doing anything worse isn’t an option. The quicker you understand that, the better.”

“I don’t _want_ to understand it,” Willa growled.

Wynonna gave a soft laugh. “And _that_ , right there, is why we’ll probably all end up dead.”


	22. Forget Your High Society, I'm Soaking It In (Kerosene)

_The thing that I’m not sure either of my sisters ever understood, ever really, fully grasped, is that we weren’t supposed to win._

_We’re not supposed to save Purgatory._

_I mean, ten million dollars? Come on. The one million that our dad handed over was hard enough to come by. Bobo gave that money back to us to fund the travel for the robberies, and we’ve barely even broken even on that much._

_All this was a cruel mockery of how much we care about protecting our town. Defending our home. Living up to the family legacy of doing whatever we can to help people, even when at the end of the day, we made the worst possible choice for how to do it._

_This whole thing is nothing but a game to The Revenants. They don’t care what we do. They win either way._

_And either way, we lose._

+++

 

**OCTOBER 18 – BOSTON, MASSACHUSSETTS, U.S.A.**

The Boston robbery was not of a bank, nor was it of a fiery cash exchange.

The Boston robbery took place at the highest-priced jewelry store in the entire city.

It was a change in M.O., a shift in schedule that was designed to take the police off guard or have them assume that the sisters were getting desperate. It was the fortieth robbery, and they needed to mix it up in a different way than the usual method.

When Wynonna and Willa got into the back of the sedan Waverly was driving, she could immediately tell that something was wrong.

“Wy, you seem… tense,” Waverly said calmly as she headed back to the motel. “Is everything okay?”

“Our idiotic sister bashed a clerk in the face with her gun,” Wynonna muttered. “So no, everything is _not_ okay.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” Waverly demanded, glancing in the rearview mirror at Willa.”

Willa shrugged, examining the bag of jewelry and money she was holding. “The guy was going to set off the silent alarm. He deserved it.”

“There were better ways to handle it. Less violent ways. You didn’t need to-”

“For hell’s sake, Wynonna, we’re _bank robbers_ , not _Girl Scouts_. I’m not going to temper my emotions and my reactions when we are all criminals who need to work on instinct. That’s all we’ve got. When are you going to understand that?”

“I guess never.” Wynonna took a swig of the coffee Waverly had bought while she waited. “Waves, your taste in coffee sucks.”

“That’s why it’s _my_ coffee.”

“Too bad you idiots don’t spend more time planning better robberies instead of joking around,” Willa growled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, next time I’ll _hit you in the_ face and see how effective it is.”

Waverly sighed and sarcastically said, “The Earp sisters. Pride of Purgatory.”

Wynonna laughed softly and leaned her seat back, eliciting an irritated grumble from Willa. “Long may we reign.”

 

+++

 

The plane to Boston was silent and uncomfortable. Nicole spent the entire trip staring out the window, ignoring Dolls as best she could. Lucado, seated across the row, continually shot suspicious glances at her.

When Lucado got up to use the restroom, Dolls quietly murmured, “I was being serious, Nicole. I can help you.”

“I don’t need your help,” Nicole replied, voice almost a mumble.

“Sure. I believe you. Except that you’re caught up with a bunch of bank robbers.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” Dolls leaned towards her and lowered his voice further. “You can help us catch them. You can testify against them. Depending on how helpful you are, you may not even see the inside of a jail cell.”

Nicole shook her head slowly. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Dolls smirked slightly. “And you have no idea what you’re doing.”

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 19 – BOSTON, MASSACHUSSETTS, U.S.A.**

 

“We need to talk about the next robbery. The Virginia one.”

“Okay. Let’s talk.”

Wynonna squinted at Nicole, sitting next to Waverly on the couch. (More sitting _under_ Waverly- Waverly was so close to her that she was practically sitting on top of her, her hand pressed between the small of her back and the back of the couch and her other hand resting casually on Nicole’s leg.

“Just ignore her,” Waverly said, briefly putting her hand over Nicole’s mouth before she could speak. “What do you want to know?”

“I’m just wondering whether the weather conditions will be conducive for this. The predictions say heavy thunderstorms.. I can’t see that working in our favor if we use the Option A escape plan.”

“That’s fair. I can always watch for what’s going on and figure out a way to call it for you while you and Willa are in there. I don’t do anything but pay attention to my surroundings while I sit in that car and wait for you.”

Nicole snorted. “Except for that time you were a desperate idiot and called me to-”

Waverly smacked her hand over Nicole’s mouth again, her face flushing red.

Wynonna seemed to ignore the comment. “If we can figure out a reliable direct communication that would be best. You’ll be able to judge exactly what exit strategy will work best.”

“Sounds good. I’ll come up with some options.”

“Oh, and Waves?”

Waverly, who had been whispering something in Nicole’s ear, looked back up. “Yes?”

“The next time you decide to have sex of _any kind_ in our getaway car _during a robbery especially_ , I’m grounding you. And grounding includes not hanging out with your friends, like the one whose pants you sometimes get into.”

“Oh, bite me, Wynonna.”

The middle Earp smirked. “Somebody already beat me to it.”

Waverly flushed bright red and adjusted the collar of her shirt. “ _Shut up, Wynonna!_ ”

Nicole grinned arrogantly. “Don’t worry, Wynonna, it was-”

To shut her up, Waverly grabbed her and kissed her hard on the mouth.

Wynonna sighed and shook her head, beginning to reassembling the gun she had been cleaning. “Looks like I’m going to have to shoot Nicole.”

“Not funny,” Nicole mumbled, still dealing with Waverly.

“I think I’m _hilarious_.”

Willa walked into the room and took a moment to look around at the scene: one of her sisters putting together a Desert Eagle on the nice motel desk, the other on the couch on top of a cop, making out with her.

“Who am I killing first in this scenario?” Willa wondered and she took out a gun of her own. “Wait, I forgot, it’s _always_ Haught.”

Nicole made another muffled noise and pulled back, shooting Wynonna a helpless look as Waverly’s hands wandered. “I can’t exactly stop it. Even if I wanted to. I-”

She was cut off yet again as Waverly trapped her in another kiss.

Wynonna rolled her eyes, set the gun down on the desk, and grabbed Willa’s arm, steering her towards the door. “Come on. Let’s just leave these dumbasses be.”

“But that’s our _sister_. And a _cop_.”

“Yeah,” Wynonna sighed. “But they’re going to make out anyway, and at this point I don’t really care.”

They left as Waverly pulled Nicole deeper into the kiss, laughing the whole time.

 

+++

 

“Was Haught in the room while you were planning?” Willa asked as Wynonna described the communication problem for the next robbery.

“Yeah. Who cares?”

Willa lowered her voice. “Wynonna, she’s a _cop_.”

“A cop who knows enough about us by now to arrest us eighty times. A cop who our baby sister _loves_. I’m still not thrilled with all of this. But I don’t think planning in front of her is going to be a problem >”

“I damn sure hope you’re right,” Willa muttered.

“Waverly loves her,” Wynonna repeated. “I’m right.”

 

+++

 

“I love you, you know.”

Nicole grinned and leaned down to kiss Waverly. “I know.”

“Are you going to say you love me too, or are you just going to Han Solo me?”

“Oh, shut up,” Nicole laughed, kissing her again. “I love you.”

“You’d better.”

“Yeah, or I’d have to listen to you nag at me about it for the rest of my life.”

Waverly pushed Nicole up against the door of her motel room. “I would be _glad_ to nag you for the rest of your life, Nicole Haught. We just need to, y’know, _not die_ first.”

“That would be preferred.”

"You value me more than dying? I am  _flattered_ , Nicole."

"You should be."

Laughing, Nicole kissed her once more before pushing off of the door and leaving through it.

She walked out to the parking lot of the motel, grinning and humming quietly to herself.

As she got into the car, Lucado watched her from an unmarked police car in the lot across the street.


	23. (Somethin' Bad) About To Happen

_I feel like it’s important for me to say that I don’t blame Nicole for anything. She watched for a tail. She was careful. She did her best to protect us, to protect Waverly, from you and Lucado. I don’t blame her for any of this._

_She’s a rookie, a kid with little experience trying to protect us from veteran FBI agents._

_She never stood a chance._

_I don’t blame anyone for doing their job, either. I have no specific grudge against Lucado for doing what she was supposed to do. For hunting down the bad guys._

_It’s about time I accepted that that’s what we are._

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 21 – NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, U.S.A.**

 

The gunshot wasn’t very loud, but it pounded in Waverly’s head anyway.

She turned in her seat quickly, looking back at the bank in which her sisters were. As she turned back to look down the street for police cars, the passenger door opened and Willa got into the car.

“What the fuck happened?” Waverly demanded.

“We’ve gotta go,” Willa replied, her voice remarkably calm.

“Where’s Wynonna?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m not leaving if-”

“ _Waverly, we can’t just-_ ”

One of the back doors opened, and Wynonna scrambled into the car. “Drive,” she gasped.

Waverly immediately turned the car onto the street and headed away from the bank.

“Are you okay?” she asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.

“No.”

“Did you get shot?”

Willa snorted. “No, Waverly, she didn’t get shot. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“ _Dramatic?_ I heard _gunfire_ , Willa! What in the _hell_ else am I supposed to-”

“Why did you do that?” Wynonna interrupted. She was sitting behind Waverly’s seat, staring coldly at Willa. “You _shot_ that man. Why the hell would you shoot somebody?”

“You do realize we aren’t carrying these guns as props, right? The guy was going to press the alarm. I had to stop him. So I shot him.” Willa shrugged and put her bag on the floor of the car. “He’ll be fine.”

Wynonna gave a loud, sarcastic laugh. “Just because you shot him in a _less lethal_ area doesn’t mean he’ll be _fine_ , Willa. For fuck’s sake. Are you insane? You’re going to cause us so much more trouble than we’re already _in_.”

“Waverly’s pet cop will tell us if the feds are closing in.”

Waverly’s jaw tensed, but she kept her gaze on the road in front of her. “You can’t ask Nicole to do that.”

“Why not? That’s why you’re sleeping with her, isn’t it?”

“ _Are you serious right now?_ ” Waverly snarled, slamming on the brakes at a stop sign and rounding on Willa. “What part of my relationship are you not understanding? I don’t _want_ to have to put Nicole into a position where she has to cover for us. I don’t _want_ to have to ask her to tell us what the feds are doing. I don’t _want_ her to feel _obligated_ to act like people getting hurt is just par for the course. And for the record? I’m sleeping with Nicole because _I’m in love with her_. Get that through your goddamn skull, Willa.” She threw the car forward again, almost accidentally speeding as her anger rushed through her.

Willa shook her head slowly. “You’re awfully defensive over her, aren’t you?”

“I feel guilty enough for what she’s had to do to keep us safe. I don’t need you treating her like some tool for us to use as part of our crimes.”

“Can you turn on the radio?” Wynonna asked from the backseat.

“Yeah,” Waverly said tersely. “What station?”

“Whichever one will tell me whether Willa just killed a man,” Wynonna murmured.

The smug look on Willa’s face faded, and she looked out the window as Waverly reached for the radio.

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 21 – BOSTON, MASSACHUSSETTS, U.S.A.**

 

Nicole and Dolls sat across from each other in awkward silence, neither of them reading the evidence folders in front of them. Dolls started to ask something, but before he got any words out, Lucado stormed into the office.

“Those bastards shot someone,” she snarled.

“Wh-What?” Nicole stammered, putting the folder down quickly before she could drop it.

Dolls continued to stare at Nicole as he asked, “These bank robbers? They killed someone?”

“Luckily, the teller didn’t die. They didn’t aim to kill. But he’s in the hospital in serious condition.” Lucado slammed her hand down on the table. “I am _done_ with these assholes. We’re putting them in prison, no matter what. Both of you, get your things. We’re going to Norfolk. This ends. _Now_.”

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 21 – POCOMOKE CITY, MARYLAND, U.S.A.**

 

“It’s a five hour drive to Philadelphia,” Willa said quietly as she chewed on a French fry. “Are you guys going to refuse to talk to me for the entire thing?”

“We’ve successfully ignored you for two hours,” Wynonna replied. “Why stop now?”

“Look, I was just trying to protect us, okay? I was trying to keep us _safe_.”

“If we can only be safe at the expense of others, I don’t want it,” Waverly murmured. She started at her phone, looking worried. “Nicole keeps calling me.”

“Have you answered it?” Wynonna asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

Waverly sighed into a laugh. “Because I don’t know what to say to her.”

To her genuine surprise, Willa reached out and rested a hand on hers. “Waverly,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “Talk to her. It’s okay.”

Waverly blinked, a bit confused, but when she glanced at Wynonna she got an encouraging nod. She sighed again and stood up, walking away from the table and dialing Nicole’s number.

It barely rang once.

“ _Waverly, are you okay? What happened?_ ”

“Honestly, I don’t even really know. Willa… thought it was the best way to stop him from pressing the alarm.”

There was a pause on Nicole’s side of the line. “ _Why am I not surprised?_ ”

Waverly gave a strained laugh. “Yeah, I know. Typical, huh?”

“ _Do you need me to do anything?_ ”

“God, no, Nicole. We’re fine.” Waverly hesitated. “I’m sorry. I still feel guilty that you’re in this position in the first place, and now this…”

“ _Waverly. No one died._ ”

“Why are you so freaking calm about this?”

“ _Because you’re not._ ”

Waverly closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “Right. And you’re too good for me.”

“ _Well, when you put it that way…_ ”

Waverly laughed again, more genuinely. “I love you.”

“ _I love you, too._ ” Nicole paused. “ _Do you want me to meet you?_ ”

“We’re headed to Philadelphia already. Short jump this time. Which, I suppose, ended up being for the best.”

“ _Lucado keeps asking me if I need to take a break for a day because of those ribs that are still healing up a bit. I can come up and see you._ ”

Waverly ignored the fluttering feeling in her stomach. “Is that a good idea? You know they suspect you.”

“ _They do. But Lucado’s so angry about this robbery that I don’t see her caring much what I do. And I’m careful, Waverly, you know that._ ”

“Yeah, you are.” Waverly bit her lip, watching an argument between Wynonna and Willa descend into an arm-wrestling match. “Okay. Just be careful, alright?”

“ _Scout’s honor._ ”

Waverly grinned. “You were never a Scout.”

“ _No. I did go to private school, though._ ”

“… Did you wear one of those unif-”

“ _We were the only private school in the area where every student wore khaki pants regardless of gender._ ”

“Dammit.”

Nicole laughed. “ _You’re a mess._ ”

“I try.”

“ _You do. I’ll talk to you later, okay?_ ”

“Absolutely.” Waverly hung up as she walked back over to her sisters, trying to shake the feeling that they were making a grave mistake.

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 21 – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

Wynonna sat down across from Willa in a local pub, fidgeting with the menu on the table and reading through the list of beers. “I hope you have a half-decent reason for dragging me out here, Will,” she muttered. “Nicole’s coming up here, and I really wanted the opportunity to harass her for being utterly and hopelessly dedicated to our sister.”

“It’s extremely important,” Willa said, not even looking at the menu. “You don’t listen to me, so I need to force your hand.”

“What do you mean?”

Bobo sat down at the table next to Willa. “Good evening.”

If it wouldn’t have caused a scene, Wynonna would’ve fallen out of her chair. “ _What the fuck are you doing here?_ ”

“Willa told me where you’d be.” Bobo took a sip from the beer he had brought with him. “I have to admit, the look on your face alone is worth the trip.”

“Why would you tell him that?” Wynonna demanded, staring at her sister.

“Your sister is the smartest of your little trio,” Bobo answered. “She made a deal. The three of you help me with some of my criminal activity, and I’ll cancel that ten million dollar bargain. Purgatory stays under my control for two years, after which point both it and you will be released from my employ.”

“That’s a shit deal,” Wynonna snarled.

“Why? ‘Nonna, it’s the only chance we’ve got. So what if Purgatory has to stay under Bobo’s control for another few years? It’ll have its freedom, Bobo will have his money, and we get to help our hometown.”

Wynonna leaned forward and lowered her voice to a growl. “And what about the people who get hurt along the way, Will? What about the people who get _killed_ in the process? You’re talking about the man who _murdered Uncle Curtis_.”

“Sacrifices have to be made, Wynonna. I’ve come to accept that. If you want to help Purgatory, you’re going to have to accept it, too.”

One of Bobo’s men appeared out of nowhere, whispered something to him, and disappeared back into the crowd. Bobo took another sip of beer and said, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to amend our deal slightly, ladies.”

“Here it starts,” Wynonna muttered.

“I’m going to need control of you and Purgatory for _three_ years, not two.”

“Why?” Willa asked, sounding more curious than concerned.

Bobo gave a casual shrug. “Because your trio is dropping down to a duo.”

There was a long pause, then Wynonna and Willa gave each other a stunned, pale glance.

And practically ran out of the pub.

 

+++

 

Nicole leaned against her rental car outside of Waverly’s motel room, grinning as Waverly walked up to her. “You’re late.”

“I walked to a place down the street for food. Wynonna and Willa have the car.” Waverly put her hands on Nicole’s shoulder and pulled herself up to kiss her. “You made good time.”

“Yeah, well, Lucado was eager to be rid of me.”

“That’s… _suspicious_ , isn’t it?”

“Of course. But my phone’s turned off. I checked the car for GPS trackers. I kept an eye out for anyone tailing me. I did everything remotely possible to make sure Lucado didn’t follow me.”

“Coming here at all was a bit dumb of you.” Waverly grinned and kissed her slowly. “Just can’t resist, can you?”

“You make my brain turn off at the worst possible moments.”

“Brain turns off when the rest of you turns on?”

Nicole groaned and rested her head back against her car. “That was _terrible_.”

Waverly, smirking, fidgeted with the collar of Nicole’s uniform. “I know.” She started to drag Nicole down for another kiss, but let go immediately when two black SUVs pulled into the parking lot, stopping on either side of Nicole’s car.

“What the… fuck?” Nicole stared in confusion as Dolls got out of one SUV and Lucado got out of the other. Her confusion turned to fear instantly, and she paled as she whispered, “ _Shit._ ”

Lucado walked up to them, a smug look on her face that only got worse as Nicole stepped between her and Waverly. “Constable Haught. Lovely evening, isn’t it?”

“What are you doing here, Lucado?” Nicole asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

“We tracked you.”

“Bullshit. I know when I’m being tracked.”

“Through the normal means, yes, I’m sure you do.” Lucado took Nicole’s badge off of her uniform and showed her the back of it. There, discreetly hidden under painted tape, was a GPS tracker. “All we had to do was stay within five miles of you. You didn’t need to see us for us to follow you.” Lucado tossed the badge at Nicole’s chest. “You thought you were being clever, Constable, and I give you credit for how far you got. But you weren’t clever enough.”

Nicole closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them again, her voice was low and cold, “What do you want me to say, Lucado? Congratulations? You followed me to a meeting with a friend of mine? I told you I was taking the day. I had plenty of time to get up here and visit someone.”

“That’s the story you’re going with? Cute.”

“It’s the truth. And did you have a warrant for that tracker?”

Lucado shrugged. “Nope.”

Dolls did a double take. “Wait, what? I thought you-”

“I _do_ have a warrant to search the motel room of your… _friend_ here,” Lucado interrupted. “People don’t care for dirty cops. It makes my job _very_ easy.” She continued to smirk that smug smirk at Nicole. “I’m also bringing both of you down to the station for questioning. If I were you, I would come willingly.”

Waverly gripped the sleeve of Nicole’s shirt. “What do you want to do?” she asked in a whisper, glaring at Lucado.

“There’s nothing we _can_ do,” Nicole mumbled back. “Just listen to what she says.”

“… Okay.” Waverly rested her forehead against Nicole’s back. “I’m sorry.”

“Trust me,” Nicole said, her voice heavy with misery. “This is _not_ your fault.”

As Dolls led Waverly to his SUV, looking troubled, she heard Lucado behind her say something about ‘resisting arrest’. Waverly turned her head to look at Lucado putting Nicole into her own SUV, just in time to see a very confused Nicole standing in front of Lucado. Just in time to see Lucado grab the back of Nicole’s shirt and slam her head against the doorframe of the SUV.

“ _Nicole!_ ” Waverly yelped, trying to turn back to check on her girlfriend.

Dolls tightened his grip on her arm and gently pushed her into the backseat of the SUV. She had time to see a bleeding Nicole be shoved into Lucado’s car, and then her vision was blocked as the door slammed closed behind her.


	24. I'm A (Black Sheep)

_The fact of the matter is that I never saw Willa’s betrayal coming._

_I should’ve. I absolutely should’ve. Her insistence that we should change our methods. Her outbursts. The way she would disappear sometimes._

_I should’ve realized a long time ago that my older sister was going to turn her back on everything we had set out to do._

_Because sure, at the end of the day, her plan would have eventually given Purgatory freedom._

_But you can’t trust Bobo Del Ray. And I would rather lose Purgatory entirely than lose the morality I had worked so hard to try to maintain throughout all of this._

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 21 – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

“What do we do?”

“Wynonna.”

“ _What the fuck do we do?_ ”

“Wynonna!”

“ _What?_ ” Wynonna spun on her heel, giving Willa a wild look. “What? Do you have a plan? Because otherwise, I don’t want to hear it, Willa!”

“’Nonna,” Willa said calmly. “There’s nothing we can do.”

Wynonna stared at her. “ _Nothing we can do?_ They _arrested_ Waverly. God knows what they’ll do with her. We have to do _something_.”

“We’ll figure something out, Wynonna, I swear, but we don’t have time to worry about that right now.”

“You’re serious,” Wynonna whispered. “You want to just leave her there.”

“Wynonna.” Willa grabbed her sister’s shoulders. “Taking into consideration the money that the feds found in the storage units, we only have $1,009,200. That’s nowhere near the goal. We _have_ to work for Bobo. And he has a robbery here in Philadelphia lined up. We _have_ to do it, Wynonna. We can’t do that if we break somebody out of lockup.”

“But… it’s _Waverly_.”

“I know.” Willa ran her hand over Wynonna’s hair. “ _Trust me_ , Wynonna, I _know_. We’ll do something about it when we can, okay? I promise we will.”

Wynonna glanced at the flashing police lights at the end of the street, where their motel room was being ripped apart by detectives. “We had better.”

 

+++

 

“So,” Dolls said softly as he steered his SUV through the streets of Philadelphia. “Your driver’s license says your name is Aspen, but I have a feeling that’s not your _real_ name.”

Waverly, staring out the window in the backseat, muttered, “Why does it matter?”

“Call me curious. I’d like to know the name of one of the people behind my extensive traveling.”

“You’re assuming that I’m guilty,” Waverly said, her voice still soft.

“Yeah, well, I know that Nicole is involved with the people who have been robbing these banks. It’s not that far of a leap to assume that she was meeting said criminals, especially after the shooting incident.”

Waverly laughed. “You don’t know anything. And I’m not telling you anything.”

“Okay.”

She glanced out the back window, and Dolls noticed in the rearview mirror that, despite her calm voice, she looked absolutely terrified. “What’s going to happen to Nicole?”

Dolls was quiet for a long moment. “She’s in a lot of trouble. I can’t answer that for sure.”

Waverly stared back out the side window. Before falling silent for the rest of the car ride, she whispered, “She doesn’t deserve it.”

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 22 – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

“I cannot believe this,” Lucado snarled, slamming a folder down onto the table Dolls was sitting at. “I have interrogated those two _all night_ and they haven’t given me _anything_ to indicate who the rest of their little robbery gang is.”

“You’re sure there _are_ more?” Dolls asked.

“Of course. You’ve seen the one we arrested with Haught. She’s too short to be either of the women who have been described to us, and we know Haught _can’t_ be one of them, because she’s been with us the whole damn time.” Lucado sat down, letting out a noise of frustration. “They have about three more hours to cooperate, or things are going to get ugly for them.”

“Just calm down, okay? If you keep going like this, you’ll never get any of them convicted.”

She glared at him. “Don’t tell me how to do my job, Dolls.”

He held up his hands defensively in front of him. “Alright, alright. How about I leave you to your thoughts, then?” Rolling his eyes, Dolls stood and walked out of the room.

 

+++

 

He found himself in holding, standing in front of the small individual cell that held Nicole Haught.

“Look at you,” he murmured. “They gave you private accommodations.”

She laughed dryly, staring at the fingerprinting ink that was still stained on her hands. “That’s only because they’re afraid I’ll get my ass kicked in general holding for being a cop.” She rubbed her fingers together as if desperately trying to get the remainder of the ink off. “I would probably deserve it.”

“I know why they put people like you in individual cells.” Dolls paused. “I wish I knew what made people like you end up in here in the first place.”

Nicole gave another laugh and looked up at him. He was caught off-guard by the gash in her temple, as if her head had been hit against something. “I’m not being blackmailed. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“You know, Haught, you _have_ disappointed me.”

She flinched slightly and looked away.

“What happened to your head?”

“Your partner doesn’t like dirty cops, either.”

“Lucado did that to you?” Dolls asked incredulously.

“You didn’t notice? She shoved me into the side of the SUV. And added ‘resisting arrest’ to the slew charges she’s throwing at me.”

“I’m sorry, Nicole.”

“No you aren’t,” Nicole said. “I deserve it.”

“You deserve to be in here. You don’t deserve that.” Dolls rested his hands against the bars of her cell and leaned forward. “Why, Haught? Why do this? It can’t have been for the money. You _have_ to be better than _that_.”

She whispered something so quietly that he couldn’t hear it.

“What?”

Nicole swallowed and raised her voice just slightly. “I’m in love with her.”

“Who?”

She just looked at him, agony in her eyes. His heart sank.

“The woman you were arrested with. You’re in love with her.”

Nicole nodded and swallowed again. “I would’ve given everything up for her, Dolls.”

He watched her for a long moment. “Well, Haught,” he said softly, “it looks like you did.”

 

+++

 

As he started to walk back towards the conference room where Lucado was set up, one of the local officers stopped him.

“Sir, one of the women you arrested last night is have a meltdown in holding. She’s _insisting_ that she talk to Agent Lucado or you, and she refuses to calm down. If she doesn’t cut it out, things are going to get unpleasant for her.”

“Give me a minute with her.”

Dolls walked down to general holding and found the woman he had arrested with Nicole pacing back and forth in front of the bars of a large general holding cell. The eight other women in the space were glaring at her, but she looked so furious that not a single one of them wanted to approach her.

“I want to talk to Agent Lucado _now_!” she was screaming. “You _tell her_ that if she doesn’t tell me what she did with Nicole, I’ll-”

Whatever the end of that sentence was was lost as she noticed Dolls.

“Calm down,” he said sternly. “You do not want Lucado coming down here, trust me. What do you need from her?”

“That… _bitch_ bashed Nicole’s head against her car and she kept refusing to even tell me if she was okay,” the woman snarled. “I don’t understand; I don’t know where she _is_. I don’t know what Lucado _did with her_ and until I find out I _will not calm down_.”

Dolls watched her for a brief moment, seeing the utter desperation in her eyes and the fact that she was actually shaking. “Tell me your name. Just your first name is fine. Just tell me your name.”

The woman swallowed, resignation settling over her face. “Waverly.”

“Waverly.”

Dolls turned to the officer guarding the holding cell. “I need to borrow this prisoner for a minute. There was an issue with her paperwork.”

 

+++

 

Dolls led a handcuffed Waverly through the precinct, intentionally taking her right past the individual holding cells. He lingered for a brief moment in front of Nicole’s cell to ‘adjust Waverly’s cuffs’.

“Don’t say a word,” he murmured.

“What?” Waverly asked, confused. She finally looked into the cell she was standing in front of, and Dolls watched as relief settled through her.

Nicole looked up and met Waverly’s gaze, and relief formed on her face as well. She gave a weak, comforting smile, then let out a breath she seemed to have been holding for a while as she rested her head back against the cinderblocks.

Dolls pushed Waverly forward, forcing her to continue walking down the hallway and out of Nicole’s sight.

“Thank you,” Waverly said under her breath, her voice cracked.

“If anyone asks, that didn’t happen,” he replied quietly. “Understood?”

She was shaking again as he brought her back to general holding, this time as if a huge weight had lifted off of her shoulders. “Understood.”

 

+++

 

“I’m not comfortable with this,” Wynonna said as she listened to Bobo’s plan for robbery.

“It’s almost identical to what you and your sisters have been doing this whole time,” he growled. “Willa approved it already.”

“Yeah, but it’s a much larger bank than we usually hit, and I won’t have somebody that I _trust_ waiting outside as my extraction point,” Wynonna replied coldly. “I don’t like this plan.”

Bobo rolled his eyes and sighed. “Is she _still_ going on about the little one? Look, she got caught, okay? It happens. Hell, that cop she’s been fucking probably turned her in to save her own skin.”

“Nicole wouldn’t do that.”

“You really believe that?” Bobo scoffed. “I can see that you aren’t the brains of this operation. Which is more proof that you should just shut up and stick to my plan.”

“Listen, _Robert_ , why don’t you-”

“Wynonna,” Willa interrupted. “It’s a good plan. It’ll work. It’ll be _fun_.”

“You sound like you’re _enjoying_ this,” Wynonna replied bitterly.

“You’re not? We’ve done _forty-one robberies_ , ‘Nonna. We’re _good at this_. If we aren’t having a little fun, why bother? We can help Purgatory without _completely_ boring ourselves, you know.”

“I never wanted this,” Wynonna murmured. “I _never wanted this_ , do you understand me? I’ve spent this entire time trying to _prevent us_ from becoming _exactly this_ , Willa.”

Willa met her gaze for a long moment before shrugging. “Well, Wynonna. You just weren’t trying hard enough to reach the end objective.” She tapped her finger against the blueprints for the bank. “ _This_ is going to get us right where we need to be, and you’re going to be there, whether you like it or not.”

Wynonna scoffed. “What are you going to do? _Force me to go_ if I decide I don’t like this plan?”

Willa’s expression didn’t change. “Yes.”


	25. I've Got (Blood On My Name)

_When Waverly was seven, I brought her into the local pharmacy and taught her how to shoplift._

_There wasn’t really any reason for it. I was just a stupid and angry thirteen-year-old who thought that was a good way to spend time with my baby sister._

_She was annoyingly good at it, but was I think frustrated me more was how guilty I felt about it, almost immediately. When Uncle Curtis found the candy in Waverly’s room, I told him I had stolen it and hid it there._

_Waverly was too young to really get what I was doing, and the dumb kid interrupted my heroic moment to say that **she** had done it, not me. We literally had an argument over who was to blame._

_He almost found it funny. Almost. At the end of the day, we both got grounded. Waverly pretty much immediately went back to being The Good Kid. I went back to being trouble._

_But we’ve always protected each other. Always tried to take the blame to save each other. I would do that now for Waverly in a heartbeat if it would help._

_Willa rarely took the fall for me. And now, well, it’s too late._

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 23 – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

As Dolls walked into the police station, he found Lucado having an argument with one of the local cops.

“You can’t just hold them here forever,” the local cop was saying, her arms folded across her chest. “They should’ve been transferred to County _yesterday_. I understand your frustration, but this is completely unacceptable, Agent Lucado. We’re not just going to hold people here indefinitely because you _feel like it_.”

“Look, _Officer_ ,” Lucado snarled, “there are dangerous bank robbers loose on your streets. Those two criminals in your cells know where to find them. And they are not _leaving my presence_ until they _give me what I need to know_.”

“That’s _illegal_ ,” the officer insisted, frustration edging into her voice.

“I’m a federal agent conducting an investigation into violent felonies,” Lucado said. “Unless you want to find yourself facing obstruction charges, _figure out_ how to live with keeping _two people_ in your cells.”

The officer shook her head slowly. “You’re going to cause yourself more trouble than you even seem to realize,” she muttered as she stormed off.

Dolls walked up to Lucado, frowning. “Haught and the other kid are _still here_?”

“Yes.”

“Lucado, you can’t just-”

“They’re hiding information from me, Dolls,” Lucado said, heading back towards holding. “And they are not _leaving this building_ until I have their accomplices in custody.”

“That is both unreasonable and unethical.”

“You think I care about that right now? In a normal situation, Haught would’ve been instructed to remove her uniform shirt so that she’s only in that tank top underneath it, to avoid any other criminals from finding out she’s a cop. I specifically instructed the officers that she _must_ keep her uniform fully on, because I _want_ them to know. I want her to _think about it_.”

“Why do you hate her so much? I don’t approve of what she did _at all_ , but for God’s sake, Lucado, you’re taking this too far.”

“ _They_ took it too far. I’m tired of being played with, I’m tired of chasing these assholes around all of North America, and I’m tired of Haught being a _smug smartass_ while she works with criminals behind our backs. So they’re all going to pay for it.” Lucado gave him a long, hard stare. “It would be in your best interests to agree, Dolls.” Without waiting for a response, she walked into the holding block, fury fueling her steps.

Dolls sighed and went to follow, but a detective jogged up to him. “Agent Dolls?”

“Yes?”

“There’s a silent alarm going off at a bank nearby. We don’t know if it’s related to what you’re looking for, but would you like to come along?”

“Absolutely; let’s go.”

Without calling for Lucado, Dolls followed the detective out of the precinct.

 

+++

 

The robbery was not the smoothest.

Wynonna was distracted and anxious, and while she tried to keep track of far too many people at once, she accidentally allowed a teller to press a silent alarm.

Willa almost shot the cowering woman, but Wynonna immediately grabbed her arm.

“If you so much as _think_ of doing that, I am _done_ , do you understand me?” Wynonna snarled.

“Fine,” Willa spat. “Then we had better get the hell out of here, hadn’t we?”

“We’re good to go,” Bobo said, coming out from the back. “Come on.”

They headed out of the bank and immediately saw police cars heading in their direction.

“ _Shit_ ,” Willa said. “This is all _your_ fault, Wynonna.”

“Of course it is. It’s _always_ my fault. _You’re_ the one who had the _stupid_ plan, but it’s _my_ fault.”

“Ladies, maybe we should run?” Bobo turned back into the building that housed the bank and started running up the stairs.

Wynonna and Willa exchanged a glance and ran after him.

“Déjà vu,” Willa said with a breathless laugh. “This reminds me of that time we met Waverly’s pet cop.”

“You mean the time you shot Nicole for no reason.”

“God, you are _no fun_ anymore, ‘Nonnna.”

“ _How_ is this fun for you, Will?” Wynonna demanded. “How? We were never supposed to find any of this _fun_.”

“Our town has belonged to the Del Ray family since well before either of us was born, Wynonna. We were never going to get it back. If we’re going to try, we might as well take the chance to get some excitement out of it.” Willa scoffed. “Besides, you agreed to this, remember?”

“I agreed to it because you said the only way you’d help me get Waverly out of jail is if I went along with this robbery. You held Waverly’s freedom hostage, Willa. Don’t mistake that for _willing participation_.”

They got to a room that led out to a fire escape.

“Wynonna, go up,” Willa said. “Bobo and I will go down. We’ll meet back at the bar once we’ve lost the police, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Wynonna swung up onto the metal and ran up the steps as fast as she could.

 

+++

 

Dolls watched as the local cops swarmed the bank. They blocked off in front of the building, and the officers started sweeping the entire building the bank was located in.

On a hunch, Dolls wandered over to the alley on the very side of the building, where the fire escape was located.

And came face to face with a dark-haired woman and a bearded man, both holding duffel bags and guns.

They seemed to be expecting to run into someone, as they reacted first, aiming their guns directly at Dolls.

“Would you look at that,” the man sneered. “The good old _FBI_ decided to make an appearance.”

“And he’s standing in our way,” the woman said. “If I’ve ever been curious what it’s like to kill someone, I guess now’s as good a time as any to find out.”

Dolls braced himself, cursing his own stupidity, but before the woman could pull the trigger, another voice shouted from above them.

“ _WILLA, DON’T!_ ”

A second brunette hurried off of the fire escape and ran over to them. She too had a bag and a gun, but her expression was one of horror, not arrogance.

The first woman rolled her eyes. “Way to give my name to the cops, sis. I thought you were escaping. Why did you come back?”

“I had a bad feeling you were going to do something _stupid_. Guess I was _right_.”

Allowing the man to keep Dolls at gunpoint, Willa turned towards the woman who was apparently her sister. “Wynonna, just walk away. This guy doesn’t matter. We’re still fine.”

Wynonna shook her head. “I told you. This isn’t how I wanted to do things.”

Willa aimed her gun at the other woman. “Wynonna. I’m getting out of here. You can choose to either go along with that plan, or your job can end right here, right now.”

After a long pause in which Wynonna seemed to be struggling to comprehend that her own sister was holding her at gunpoint, she murmured, “It’s done, Willa. They already have Waverly. I’m tired. It’s done.”

“No. It’s not. And if I have to kill you and some cop to continue, then I’m sorry, Wynonna, but that’s what I’m going to do.”

A sharp noise from inside the building indicated that the local cops had gone out onto the fire escape. Willa, distracted by the sound, looked up. When she returned her attention to her sister, she saw that Wynonna had raised her own gun.

“Willa. Please don’t do this.”

“I promise this will be quick,” Willa said, her voice soft.

Dolls took a small step forward. “Look, why don’t you just-”

As Willa rounded to aim her gun at him again, Wynonna fired.

And hit her sister square in the back.


	26. (Blackbird Song) Is Over Now

_You’re probably wondering why I keep referring to Willa in the present tense._

_The truth is, I still haven’t processed it all._

_What I’ve done…_

_I don’t think I want to talk about it anymore._

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 23 – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

“I have good news for you, Haught,” Lucado said as she walked up to the front of Nicole’s cell.

“You’ve heard the magic song of Whoville and your heart has grown three sizes?” Nicole asked, sounding more tired than sarcastic.

Lucado smirked. “Cute. But no. You’re being transferred to County. You’ll wait there for your bail hearing, and then when your bail gets denied, you’ll sit there and wait for arraignment, trial, all that fun stuff.”

Nicole scoffed. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely. And you’ll be _glad_ to know that I have a prosecutor just _itching_ to seek the death penalty.”

Alarm lit in Nicole’s eyes as she sat up straighter. “For _what_? You have me on obstruction, aiding and abetting, that bullshit resisting arrest charge, plus-”

“Felony homicide.”

Nicole went white. “F-Felony… _w-what_?”

“We’ve arrested your fellow accomplices. Except one of them ended up dead. And you know what that means.” Lucado grinned at Nicole. “ _That_ means that _you_ get a murder charge. You _and_ your little friend.”

“We weren’t even _there_!” Nicole protested.

“I don’t really care.”

Realization clicked in Nicole’s head. “Who’s dead?”

“Well, I’m just not sure-”

“ _Who. Is. Dead?_ ”

Lucado paused, that same smirk lingering on her lips. “I believe you know her as Willa Earp. She was killed by Wynonna Earp. Her own sister shot her to death.”

Shock spread over Nicole’s face, and she stared at the ground for a long moment as she processed the information. In only a few seconds, however, she was on her feet and gripping the bars of her cell.

“Please,” she rasped. “ _Please_. Break it softly on Waverly. I’m begging you, Lucado.”

“I’ll consider it.”

“ _Please_.” Desperation leaked into Nicole’s voice. “Lucado, please.”

“Hm. Tell me why this matters so much to you. That’s my price.”

Nicole stared at her, struggling to decide.

Lucado shrugged and started towards general holding. “Okay then.”

“She’s their little sister,” Nicole blurted out. When Lucado paused, Nicole said, “Waverly’s their little sister, and I am _begging you_ to take it easy on her.”

“We’ll see.”

As Lucado smirked again and continued walking, Nicole punched one of the bars of her cell. “ _Dammit, Lucado, please! Please!_ ”

The FBI agent ignored her completely as she left, Nicole’s pleading making no impression on her at all.

 

+++

 

When Lucado got to general holding, Waverly was already at the bars, trying to look towards the individual cells.

“I can hear Nicole’s voice,” she said, giving Lucado a cold look. “I can’t hear what she’s saying, but I can hear her voice. What have you done to her?”

“I’ve done nothing. She’s just reacting badly to the news that you’re both going to be charged with felony murder, Ms. Earp.”

“Felony murder? What the hell for?” Waverly hesitated. “And how… do you know my last name?”

“Oh, I told Haught that I’d consider breaking the news easy on you if she told me your last name. She’s very protective of you. Thinks you can’t handle just having the knowledge that your sister Wynonna killed your sister Willa just dropped on you.” Lucado gave a pointed pause. “Oops.”

Waverly stepped away from the bars, paling. “What?” she whispered.

“Yep!” Lucado shrugged. “No honor among thieves, I guess. I hope you’re prepared for your transfer to county jail!” Without another word, Lucado walked away, leaving a stunned Waverly standing in the general holding cell, close to tears.

 

+++

 

Dolls stopped Lucado before she could go into the interview room with Wynonna Earp.

“Get out of my way, Dolls.”

“Maybe I should interrogate her,” he said quietly.

“Why the hell should you do that?”

He swallowed. “Because you’re a little… _intense_ about this case, Lucado. It might be best if you’re not the one who does the interrogation, okay?”

“Agent Dolls,” Lucado said, her voice a forced calm. “If you try to tell me how to do my job again? You’ll regret it.” She pushed past him into the interview room.

 

+++

 

Nicole stared down at her handcuffs as the van she and Waverly were sitting in lurched its way through the streets of Philadelphia. She could barely move between the cuffs and the shackles around her ankles.

The first of many consequences of being charged with murder.

She moved her hands slightly to ease the pressure on her wrists and looked up at Waverly, seated across from her. The other woman was staring at nothing, an emotionless expression on her face.

The dull look in Waverly’s eyes hurt more than anything else Nicole had been through in the past few days. And, despite knowing the risks, she had to do something.

“Waverly,” she whispered. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“No talking,” the guard in the back with them snapped immediately.

Waverly shifted her gaze to meet Nicole’s, and the stupid lovestruck idiocy overtook her common sense again.

Nicole swallowed and kept her voice low. “ _It’s gonna be okay._ ”

“What the fuck did I just say?” the guard demanded, getting to his feet and heading for Nicole. “Keep. Your mouth. _Shut_.” He roughly tightened her handcuffs and then, in a quick, jerking move, yanked the metal chain down hard.

Nicole was forced forward, her jaw slamming into the guard’s shoulder and the metal of the handcuffs digging into her wrists.

The guard smirked faintly and headed back to his seat. “Sorry, _Officer_ , my mistake.”

As blood slowly started to seep from a split lip and gashes in her wrists, Nicole just stared at him before turning back to look at Waverly. Waverly silently asked her if she was okay with just a look, and Nicole gave her what she hoped was a comforting grin.

She knew neither of them believed it.

 

+++

 

Wynonna was sitting at the interview table, staring blankly at the mirrored wall, when Lucado walked in.

“Are you the Good Cop or the Bad Cop?” she asked dryly.

“I’m the FBI agent who is going to put you in prison,” Lucado replied, pacing slowly on her side of the table.

“Whatever.” Wynonna looked away, her eyes distant.

“You’re going to confess. Everything. Every single detail of every robbery, and every detail of what Waverly Earp did, and every detail of what Nicole Haught did.”

“Why would I do that?”

Lucado shrugged. “You clearly don’t care about your family, so why wouldn’t you?”

Wynonna almost lunged across the table at her. “I care a _lot_ about my family, you _bitch_ ,” she snarled.

“Clearly. Is that why you murdered your sister?”

“Murdered?” Wynonna gave a laugh completely absent of humor. “ _Murdered?_ I didn’t want to shoot Willa. But she was going to shoot that other agent, and she was going to shoot me. I had no other choice.”

“Self-defense, huh?”

“What does it matter?”

“It doesn’t. But technically, I have no proof that you did any of the other robberies. This one doesn’t match the M.O. at all. So you’re going to give me a full confession.”

Wynonna smirked, the dead look staying in her eyes. “Oh. I am?”

“Yes.” Lucado reached across the table, grabbed Wynonna by the collar, and pulled her forward quickly so that her head slammed against the table. “You are.”

She only got a laugh from Wynonna, who completely ignored her now-bleeding nose. “What aren’t you getting? I don’t care anymore. I killed my big sister. There’s nothing you can do to me.”

“Oh, really?” Lucado took a seat across from Wynonna. “Well, since you don’t care anymore, you won’t care about the fact that your little sister and her girlfriend are being charged with felony murder.”

Wynonna paled. “What?”

“Waverly Earp and Nicole Haught are being charged with felony murder. And if you don’t give me a full confession, on tape _and_ in writing, I will _make sure_ that they _both_ get the death penalty for it.”

“Th-That’s blackmail,” Wynonna stammered, wiping the blood off of her face.

“I’m making a deal, because I am sick of you people.”

“Waverly wasn’t even _there_ she wasn’t _involved_ you _can’t_ charge her with-”

Lucado held up a hand, cutting her off. “I do not care. You can confess, right now, or you can live knowing that you’re responsible for the deaths of _both_ of your sisters. A confession, or death penalties that neither Earp nor Haught have actually earned.”

Wynonna stammered for words for a full minute before swallowing and setting her jaw. “If I do this, you _cannot_ let Waverly _or_ Nicole get killed for something they didn’t do.”

“Of course.”

She swallowed again, her eyes glistening. “Give me a goddamn piece of paper.”

Lucado smirked. “Good. And you’re going to write exactly what I want you to say, no games, or the deal’s off. Understood?”

Wynonna gritted her teeth. “Understood.”

 

+++

 

Once Lucado left to handle the confession Wynonna had given her, Dolls walked into the interview room and leaned against the door.

Wynonna sniffed and leaned back in her chair. “What are you, round two? I already confessed.”

“Yeah, and I listened to it. And I don’t think it’s the truth.”

“It’s not. Some of the basics are there. But I just gave her what she wanted.” Wynonna sighed heavily. “She’s missing some of the important parts. And she’s missing the truth about Nicole. And about why we did this. And about who we all are.”

“Why don’t you tell me that?”

“I can’t,” Wynonna whispered. “It’s too late.”

“I don’t believe that.” Dolls paused. “Why did you save me? I heard what Willa said. You could’ve gotten away, but you came back. Why?”

Wynonna shrugged. “I never wanted us to be violent. That was always Willa’s thing. I didn’t want us to become that.” She chuckled softly. “I guess I broke my own rule pretty damn well.”

“You’ll be in prison for the rest of your life, Wynonna. And who knows how long that life will be if Lucado gets her way.”

“It doesn’t matter. As long as Waverly doesn’t pay for my mistakes, it doesn’t matter.” Wynonna met his gaze, and he saw hardened determination there. “I’ve failed my sister in so many ways. I won’t fail her again.”

Dolls gave a small nod and headed out of the room. Wynonna watched him go, bit her lip, and slowly toyed with the paper left over on the table from the confession she had written for Lucado.

 

+++

 

After getting into a fight with another woman in holding, Wynonna was moved to an individual cell. Dolls found her there right before he went home that night.

“You’re going to be moved to County at some point tomorrow. Lucado wants to interrogate you some more before you go, so I don’t know when.”

“Fabulous,’ Wynonna muttered, staring at the ceiling.

“Care to tell me why you got into a fight?”

Wynonna shrugged. “Because I had to punch something.”

“Seems fair enough.” Dolls paused. “There’s something you should know. Lucado’s proceeding with the felony murder charges against your sister and Haught.”

“ _What?_ ” Wynonna jumped to her feet, fury in her eyes. “But they weren’t _there_! And I _gave her what she wanted_!”

“It doesn’t matter, Ms. Earp. Agent Lucado knows what she’s doing.”

“Like hell she does.” Wynonna walked forward and leaned against the bars. “Please, Agent Dolls, you have to stop this. Please. Waverly and Nicole don’t _deserve_ this. I understand that they’re criminals. I understand that we’re all criminals. But _please_. Please don’t kill my baby sister.”

“There’s nothing I can do,” Dolls said softly.

Wynonna’s face shifted through a serious of distressed emotions before she just laughed and went back to her bench. “Figures,” she muttered. “It figures.”

“What figures?”

“I knew from the start of this mess that I’d end up going to hell.” Wynonna lay down on her bench, staring back up at the ceiling. “I just never realized that hell would be watching everyone I love die for my mistakes.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “I guess this is what _I_ deserve.”


	27. (Smoke Rising) Up From The Gate Where They Got Her

_I don’t expect anything for myself. I know I don’t deserve it._

_All I’m asking you to do, if it’s at all possible, is save my sister. To save Waverly, and Nicole. They don’t deserve to die for what I’ve done. I know you said you couldn’t do anything, but I know that if you understood, if you really **knew** what had happened, maybe you’d be able to try._

_At the end of the day, we made horrible mistakes. Horrible decisions. We all know that. But Waverly and Nicole shouldn’t die for them. I’ve accepted that I will. But please. Help them._

_I suppose I should start at the beginning. Really explain from the start of where everything really began to go wrong for us. How we got where we are now._

_How everything went downhill._

_And really, it’s because we expected too much from our own abilities._

_When you’re the descendant of a famous lawman, people expect things from you…_

Dolls stared down at the lengthy letter that Wynonna had slipped to him as she was led back to interrogation with Lucado. It was written in Sharpie, suggesting that she had charmed a writing utensil off of a cop that didn’t want her to be able to use it as a weapon, but it was perfectly legible. And it went into full detail of what she and her sisters (and Nicole Haught) had done.

He had a confession that was even better than the one Lucado had obtained. One that spelled everything out. One that detailed each guilty party from each aspect of the crime spree. One that clarified just what Haught’s role in the whole endeavor was.

And yet…

Dolls folded the letter back up and stuck it into his pocket.

Normally, he would enter this letter into evidence immediately. But Lucado’s bloodthirsty attitude- and how easily she had convinced the prosecutor, Cryderman, to help her pursue bogus charges to a death penalty level –made him extremely uncomfortable with what was going on.

And now, in his hand, he had all of the proof he needed to confirm his suspicions that the one who had instigated the violence in the crimes, the one who was the most dangerous of the group, was the Earp who was in the morgue.

He could not, in good conscience, allow Lucado’s rampage to continue unchecked.

Even if the chips fell in such a way that three people got away with robbery.

Dolls dialed a number into his cellphone and held it up to his ear. “This is Dolls,” he said quietly. “I need to talk to you about something important.’

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 24 – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

When Lucado walked out of interrogation, she was still smirking. “That criminal had the nerve to refuse to talk to me, Dolls. Can you believe that? She’s already given me everything I need to send her and her cohorts to lethal injections, and she won’t say anything more to me.”

“Mm.”

“Why aren’t you joining me in my amusement?”

“Because I don’t find it very funny, Lucado.”

She snorted. “Well, I-”

“Agent Dolls.”

Lucado and Dolls both turned as a brunette woman walked up to them. Lucado paled slightly.

“A-Agent Valdez,” she stammered. “What are you doing here?”

Valdez ignored her completely, looking at Dolls. “Have you started the process of getting the younger Earp and Ms. Haught released from County?”

“Yes, ma’am. It’ll take a little bit, but they’re expected to be released by the end of the day. Wynonna Earp is here, and the local police would like a word with her, but the expectation is that she’ll be released within a few days once everything is sorted out.”

“What the _hell_ are you two talking about? Why are my prisoners being released?”

Valdez turned her gaze to Lucado, her eyes cold. “Because you blew it, Lucado.”

“Excuse me?”

“You shot your own case in the foot by being an overzealous _asshole_.” Valdez took her phone out of her pocket, tapped on it for a few seconds, and then held the screen up for Lucado to see.

Wynonna’s interrogation started to play, from even before the moment Lucado slammed her head into the table.

“I thought those were turned off up until the point when she started confessing,” Lucado muttered under her breath.

Valdez laughed. “First of all: _Seriously?_ Second of all: They weren’t. And this video has been released _publically_.”

Lucado’s expression went blank. “Pardon?”

“It’s on news outlets. It’s online. It has hits on YouTube for hell’s sake. And all anyone is seeing is that you _blatantly_ coerced a confession out of a suspect by hurting her and threatening to _execute her little sister for crimes said sister did not commit_.” Valdez gave an exasperated shrug. “Are you _joking_ , Lucado? I mean, and then I start looking into this case, once the questions start coming across my desk, and do you know what I find? You illegally tracked Ms. Haught. You obtained a search warrant for Ms. Earp’s room without proper grounds. You’ve held these people without releasing them or transferring them to County for _well_ past an acceptable time period. You intentionally put Ms. Haught’s life in danger by requiring her to wear her uniform while in lockup. You denied them their rights to an attorney. They weren’t even _read_ their rights. From what I understand you assaulted Ms. Haught and then lied that she resisted arrest in order to get away with it, and to top it _all off_ , you _fabricated_ felony murder charges that you _knew_ weren’t true, because neither Ms. Earp _nor_ Ms. Haught could have _possibly_ been at the scene, as they were _here_. Did I miss anything?”

Lucado paused for a long moment. “Well, no. But-”

“ _But?_ ” Valdez laughed again. “But _what_ , Lucado?”

“It’s not a big deal. I have the evidence. I have the confessions. We _have them_ , Valdez.”

“No. We don’t. Because not a single bit of the evidence we have against them and _certainly_ not your confession are going to be allowed in court. And now, we can’t process _any_ of them for _anything_ , because the whole world has seen your interrogation tape, and any attempts to dig up evidence now is going to look like a witch hunt to save our asses.” Valdez gave a sarcastic thumbs up. “Congratulations, Lucado. Not only did you not solve the case but you also made the entire thing into a career killer that no law enforcement agency is ever going to want to touch out of fear of looking corrupt. So congratulations. Because that case you’ve worked so hard on is now worth _nothing_ , just because you couldn’t keep your damn mouth shut and treat it the way that a proper cop should.”

Lucado looked like someone had punched her. “This is unacceptable, Valdez. They’re _guilty_. They should _rot in prison_.”

“Yeah. Well. Who’s fault is it that they won’t?” Valdez walked over to the desk of one of the local cops to speak to her.

Lucado rounded on Dolls. “You did this. You released that tape.”

“I had nothing to do with it.”

“ _Who the hell else would have?_ ”

He just shrugged. “I don’t know, Lucado. Maybe it’s the karma police. Who knows?”

With a faint smirk, Dolls walked after Valdez. Lucado watched him go, then stormed off in the direction of the building’s exit.

 

+++

 

Nicole had no idea why she was being released from jail, but she was not about to argue.

She paced in the entryway of the jail, waiting for Waverly to be processed out. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t even notice when Lucado stormed through the doors and headed in her direction.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” Lucado hissed once she got close enough for Nicole to hear her. “Do you understand me? I am going to _make sure_ that _somebody_ prosecutes you both for _everything that you’ve_ _done_. I don’t _care_ that you’re being released right now. It won’t be for long. I am going to _make you both pay_. _Understand me?_ ”

Nicole looked at her for a lengthy moment, too tired to deal with Lucado’s ranting. So she just smirked at the agent.

It got a more violent and immediate reaction than she could have anticipated. Lucado had an outburst of frustrated rage and grabbed Nicole by the collar of her jacket, pushing her up against the wall.

“ _You haven’t won,_ ” Lucado snarled in Nicole’s face. “Do you hear me, Haught? You haven’t won! I am going to do _anything_ to get you back in that cell, do you _fucking understand that_?”

A prison employee, baffled, yanked Lucado off of Nicole. “Knock it off! What is your problem?”

Lucado glanced around, realizing that everyone was staring at her. She kept her voice low and glared at Nicole. “You deserve prison. And I am going to put you there.”

Nicole just shrugged.

Gritting her teeth, Lucado hurried back out of the building.

 

+++

 

Nicole waited about another hour, now pacing outside in front of the jail, before Waverly walked out the front door.

“Oh, thank God,” Waverly whispered. She practically jogged over to Nicole and hugged her fiercely. “What the hell happened? They didn’t explain why I was released.”

“They didn’t tell me anything, either,” Nicole replied, holding Waverly tightly. “Lucado was here, and she was freaking out. Saying she was going to make sure we got what we deserved. So whatever happened, she was not happy about it.”

“Wynonna.”

Nicole pulled back, carefully taking Waverly’s face in her hands. “What?”

Waverly gave a soft laugh. “My stupid sister probably took all the blame. It’s the only thing that makes sense. That _idiot_ would to anything to protect me, and I-” She broke off as she finally got a good look at Nicole’s face. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Huh?”

“What _happened_ to you?” Waverly gently ran her thumb over a dark bruise under Nicole’s eye.

Nicole shrugged. “Nobody in jail likes a dirty cop, Waves. It’s not a big deal.”

“Can you not be so goddamn _flippant_ about this?”

“I’m not being flippant,” Nicole murmured, running her hand through Waverly’s hair. “It just doesn’t concern me as much as making sure you’re okay does.”

“I don’t know if I’m okay,” Waverly admitted.

“That’s alright.” Nicole kissed her softly and winced. “Forgot about that.”

Waverly took Nicole’s chin in her hand and turned her head to get a better look at the split lip the transport guard had given her. “I wanted to avoid this, Nic. I wanted to keep you from getting hurt like this.”

“None of that matters to me, Waverly. I’ll live. Just tell me what you need.”

Waverly sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I just know I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Yeah, of course, we should leave before-”

“And by ‘here’ I mean ‘Philadelphia’.”

“You want to leave? What about Wynonna?”

“Her trial likely won’t start for months. I can’t be here that long. I can’t do this, Nicole, I need to get as far away from here as I can.” Waverly swallowed, shaking. “I need to get home.”

“Okay.” Nicole pressed a kiss to Waverly’s forehead. “Okay. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course. Whatever you need.”

Waverly leaned against her. “I want to go home.”

 

+++

 

Dolls looked up as Lucado slammed her way into the office where he was packing up files.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Getting ready to go home.”

“No. Absolutely not. We’re not done. We’re getting those bastards.”

“Lucado, what are you not understanding about this situation?” Dolls set down the folder he was holding. “ _You blew it._ You completely stepped over the line, and you screwed the case. This is completely on you, and now _no one_ is going to want to _touch_ those women.”

She stared at him. “You’re happy about this, aren’t you?”

“No. I’m not. They’re criminals, and they should pay for it. But you crossed so many lines, and you guaranteed that everything was going to go to hell. That’s the end of it. It’s over, Lucado. And if you go near those women again, I assure you, there will be trouble.”

“I’m not just letting them walk away,” Lucado growled.

“Well, you had better. Because Valdez wants to talk to you, and if she doesn’t _fire you_ , then your only hope of keeping your job is staying the hell away from the Earps and Haught.”

“Is that a _threat_ , Dolls?”

“It’s the _truth_ , Lucado. It’s about damn time you faced the reality of that.” Dolls put a few more folders into the box in front of him, closed it, and carried it out of the room.

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 25 – WILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

Once they had picked up whatever belongings they could get back from the police, Waverly and Nicole got into a rental car and started driving. After about two hours and a half hours, at almost two-thirty in the morning, they were just north of Wilkes-Barre and in the middle of nowhere when Waverly, who had stared blankly out the window for the entire trip, suddenly said, “Stop the car.”

Nicole immediately pulled the car off to the side of the road, shifting it into park. “What? What’s wrong?”

Waverly was fidgeting in her seat, tapping her fingers against her knees like her nerves were trying to crawl out of her skin.

“Waves, what-”

Instead of saying anything, Waverly lunged across the center console, grabbing Nicole by the collar of her jacket and kissing her roughly. Nicole flinched as she all but slammed into the driver’s side window and gently pushed Waverly off of her.

“What… Waverly, what are you-”

“I just need to feel something,” Waverly whispered. “I just need to know we’re really here. _You’re_ really here.”

“….Okay, but maybe-”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. We shouldn’t do this.”

“Actually, I was going to say we should probably use the back seat, before one of us gets hurt.”

Waverly gave a strained laugh. “I love you.”

“Yeah, you’d better.”

“I love you a little less now.”

Nicole grinned, trying to ignore the exhaustion clouding her head. “I can accept that.”

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 26 - PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

 

When Gus stepped out of her front door, hearing an SUV pulling to a stop outside of her home, she was surprised by what she saw.

Waverly got out of the truck and barely shut the door before taking off at a run, tackling Gus in a hug.

“What in God’s name are you doing here?” Gus asked, bewildered. “I heard you had been arrested.”

“I don’t know,” Waverly murmured. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just had to be back here.”

“Well, I’m glad to have you.” Gus glanced up at the driver of SUV and paused.

She had never met Nicole Haught, but she had heard of her, and she wasn’t sure what to think. It didn’t help that, at the moment, the woman couldn’t look more like a dirty cop if she tried. She was leaning against the truck, staring off into the distance as if she was trying not to stare at Waverly, looking like she had been in a fight and dressed in boots, dark jeans, a red t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

“You brought your friend,” Gus commented, trying to keep her emotion out of her voice.

She apparently failed. “You sound like you don’t approve,” Waverly said softly.

“I know why you and your sisters did what you did. You had fairly honorable intentions despite how illegal your actions were. Your friend is a corrupt cop. She’s a wild card. I don’t know what to think of her. Whether I can trust her around you. I just don’t know what to think.”

Waverly was quiet for a moment. “I love her, Gus.”

Gus nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Look, I know why you’re worried. I understand it. But we’ve been driving without sleep for thirty-six hours, and we didn’t exactly get much sleep at all while we were in jail, so can you and I talk about this later? Please?”

Gus hugged Waverly again. “Absolutely, kiddo. I need to go into town for about an hour. But when I get back, we’ll talk. Unless you’re asleep, which would be a good idea. Get some rest, sweetheart.”

“I will.”

With a long look at Nicole, who was rubbing her hands together uncomfortably and still not looking in her direction, Gus headed for her truck.


	28. (Your Protector)'s Coming Home

**OCTOBER 26 - PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

 

Gus arrived back at her house a little over an hour later, and for a moment she had no idea where either Waverly or Nicole was. She made herself a cup of coffee, walked into the living room, and realized they were both on the couch.

Waverly was sound asleep, lying on top of Nicole, who was silently watching her and softly running her fingers through the other woman’s hair. When Gus entered the room, Nicole looked up, paling slightly.

“I-I didn’t… Sorry. She wouldn’t sleep. She was… afraid I’d leave. Or she’d wake up back in jail.”

“You guys really haven’t slept in a while, have you?”

Nicole gave a quiet laugh. “Not at all. I’m pretty sure I’m running on the dredges of adrenaline right now.” Waverly made a mumbled noise of distress, and Nicole stroked her hand over Waverly’s hair again, murmuring under her breath until Waverly settled.

Gus watched her in silence, frowning with thought as Nicole gently comforted Waverly.

“You don’t like me.”

“What?”

Nicole turned her head towards Gus, an unreadable expression in her eyes. “I heard you talking to Waverly earlier,” she murmured. “You don’t like me. Or trust me.”

“I’m just not sure what to make of you.”

That got a small nod out of Nicole. “I would leave. Trust me. I have no interest in imposing on you. I just can’t leave right now. Especially not while Waverly’s asleep. I could never do that do her.”

Gus fell silent again, watching as Nicole gave a heavy, exhausted sigh and rested a hand on Waverly’s back. She started lightly rubbing her thumb against Waverly’s back, almost as if she didn’t realize she was doing it.

And between that, the comforting soothing earlier, and Nicole’s willingness to leave for Gus’s sake, Gus realized something that she hadn’t gotten a chance to see clearly before she went to run her errand.

“You love her,” Gus murmured. “Don’t you? There’s really no other reason that you sided with the girls. You just love Waverly.”

Nicole smiled, looking down at Waverly. “What other reason would I need?”

Gus suppressed a smile of her own by taking a sip of her coffee. When she lowered her mug, she said, “Get some sleep, Haught.”

“I-I can’t,” Nicole stammered, giving Gus a scared look. “I can’t.”

“You can. And you need to. When was the last time you actually slept?”

Nicole hesitated. “I’m not sure I remember.”

“How much did you drive on the way here?”

“… Most of it.”

“Kid. You need to _sleep_. I’m genuinely shocked that you haven’t passed out by now. I mean hell, kid, just _sleep_. Even if it’s hard to. You’re going to collapse at some point if you don’t. Wouldn’t you rather not fall over and hurt yourself?”

Nicole gave a small shrug. “Been hurt enough the past few days. What’s a fall injury?”

Gus snorted. “You’ve got a mouth on you, don’t you?”

“Oh. U-Uh. S-Sorry, I-I-”

“No, don’t apologize, I think that earns you points.” Gus walked over and lightly patted Nicole on the shoulder. “Get some sleep, Haught. Everything will still be here when you wake up. I promise.”

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 27 - PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

 

Waverly opened her eyes at four in the morning and found Nicole passed out under her, sleeping more soundly than Waverly had ever seen her sleep.

Not that she had had many opportunities, admittedly.

Their relationship was an odd one. They, in all honesty, hadn’t seen each other as often as their feelings would probably indicate.

It didn’t matter to her at all.

She knew that she couldn’t get up without disturbing Nicole, but she didn’t mind.

She was quite comfortable where she was.

Waverly smiled softly and brushed her knuckles against Nicole’s cheek. Then she rested her head down under Nicole’s chin and went back to sleep.

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 27 – PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A.**

 

When Wynonna finally stepped out of the precinct, she was surprised to find Agent Dolls on the sidewalk waiting for her. She smirked slightly and headed for him. “Are you here to drop more charges on me?”

“It wouldn’t be hard for me to do.” Dolls pulled Wynonna’s letter out of his jacket pocket and tapped it against the palm of his hand. “I have a full confession in writing right here.”

Wynonna gave a tired shrug. “I wouldn’t blame you if you used it. I only gave it to you to save my sister and Haught from the death penalty. I didn’t expect this.”

“Yeah, well, some choices were made by Agent Lucado that weren’t acceptable. It came back to bite her.” He held up the letter. “This isn’t associated with her at all. I could use it to put all three of you back in jail. It might be enough for trial.”

“Probably would be,” Wynonna said carefully.

Dolls stared down at the paper. “Yeah.”

He ripped the letter up and tossed the pieces into the trashcan next to him.

Wynonna frowned. “I don’t understand. I’d deserve it. _We’d_ deserve it.”

“You would. You do. But Lucado isn’t the only problem, and the prosecutors would go right back to the plan for executing your sister and Haught. And you and I both know that they weren’t there for any crime deserving of that punishment. I’m making a choice to not allow the three of you- them in particular –to be targeted by overzealous prosecution and unethical casework.” Dolls gave her a very pointed look. “Try not to make me regret it, Earp.”

Without another word, he walked off down the street.

Wynonna watched him go. When she knew there was no way he could hear her, she whispered, “Thank you.”

 

+++

 

**OCTOBER 27 – PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

 

Waverly walked out onto the porch, pulling a blanket tighter around her. Nicole was sitting on the railing, staring out into the distance.

“Hey,” she murmured. “You okay, Nic?”

“Hey.” Nicole gave her a soft smile. “I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m… not terrible.”

Nicole stroked her cheek gently and pulled her closer to kiss her. “Are you sure? Everything with Willa…”

Waverly shivered and leaned against the railing next to her. “I don’t know what to feel about that. I’m upset, obviously, but I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet. It doesn’t help that I don’t know for sure what’s going on. What happened. It’s going to take a while to process, and it’s going to take even longer before I understand how I feel about it all.” She ran her hand down Nicole’s arm. “You haven’t said anything, and I’m starting to wonder if you’re avoiding the topic. What happened to you? Your job. What’s going to happen with it?”

Nicole was silent for a long moment, avoiding Waverly’s gaze. Then she turned so that she was sitting facing the house. “Y’know, I think your aunt made coffee. My brain’s still fuzzy; I should probably-”

“Nicole Haught, if you try to change the subject, you’re going to pay for it.”

“Okay, but every time you try to make me pay for something, it always just ends badly for _you_.”

Waverly took Nicole’s face in her hands. “You’re really cute when you’re snarky, but if you don’t tell me what’s wrong, that’s not going to save you.”

Nicole swallowed. “I don’t _have_ a job, Wave. I got fired.”

“But… we weren’t even _convicted_.” Waverly winced immediately, knowing as soon as she said it how stupid it sounded.

“We both know that wouldn’t make a difference. I’ve lost whatever credibility I’ve ever had. Nobody wants somebody like me in law enforcement.”

“In my heart I knew that would happen as soon as we were arrested,” Waverly whispered. “I just wished that it wouldn’t. I wished that I wouldn’t make you lose everything.”

“That guilt is why I didn’t want to tell you. Everything isn’t your fault, Waves.” Nicole pushed a strand of Waverly’s hair behind her ear. “And besides. There is no way that I could, in good faith, continue being a cop. Not after what we’ve done.” She kissed Waverly gently. “It’s going to be okay, babe.”

“I’m not sure anything’s ever going to be okay,” Waverly admitted.

As if on cue, the door opened, and Gus stepped out onto the porch. “Waverly, you have a phone call.”

“A phone call?”

“Yeah, those things where you can talk to someone far away through a magic device made of wires.”

Waverly just rolled her eyes.

Gus smiled slightly. “A phone call. It’s Wynonna.”

Waverly gave Nicole a stunned look, then sprinted into the house.

“I don’t understand,” Nicole said slowly. “Why is Wynonna calling?”

“You didn’t know?”

“Know what?”

Gus couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. “She’s coming home.”


	29. That's The (Downside Of Growing Up)

**OCTOBER 29 – PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

 

Wynonna stepped out of her car and stared at the house that was so familiar but, right now, felt alien to her.

She had grown up in this house with Waverly and Willa. And now, after everything, those memories just made her feel sick.

The ill feeling flooded through her was quieted when the door slammed open and Waverly bolted out, running over and slamming into Wynonna in the biggest hug she had probably ever gotten.

“Are you okay?” Wynonna asked, gripping Waverly so tightly that she thought she might break her ribs.

“Are _you_? Lucado wouldn’t tell us anything.”

“I’m alright. Lucado coerced a confession out of me, and the tape of the interrogation got released. It made it look like she’s targeting us. Framing us. Nobody wants to touch us now.” Wynonna pulled back and kissed Waverly on the forehead quickly. “I’ll explain everything inside. I just need a minute to breathe. And maybe take a nap that isn’t on a cell bench.”

“Right; of course. Come on. Gus and Nicole are inside.”

Wynonna paused. “Is Nicole okay?”

“I don’t think so,” Waverly whispered. “But she’s been holding together. And I think that’s just for my sake, but… we’re holding together.”

“Good.” Wynonna kissed her on the side of the head. “Good.”

They got to the porch, and Gus stepped outside to meet them.

“So,” she said gruffly. “The convict made her way back.”

“I never actually got convicted,” Wynonna pointed out.

“Because your ass got _lucky_.”

“Not lucky enough.”

Gus hugged her, almost as tightly as Waverly had. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”

Wynonna took in a ragged breath, trying to bury herself in her aunt. “So am I.”

 

+++

 

Wynonna and Waverly sat across from each other at Gus’s kitchen table, a bottle of whiskey between them.

“She was going to murder Agent Dolls?” Waverly whispered.

“Said she was going to kill me, too,” Wynonna murmured.

“Jesus. What was she _thinking_?”

“That siding with Bobo Del Ray was a better option than our plan of doing whatever we could within the limits of our morals. I can’t blame her for considering that. But… what she ended up doing was… too far.”

“What do we do now?” Waverly asked softly.

“I don’t know. The money is pointless. As soon as you got arrested I called Doc and the others and sent them to collect all of the money. I’m going to split it up by four. One portion donated anonymously to the person Willa shot. One portion to me. One portion to you. And… Willa’s portion. Willa’s portion goes to Gus.”

“That makes perfect sense to me.”

Wynonna stood and got glasses from the cabinet, setting them down on the table. As she poured whiskey into them, she said, “We’ll figure this out. We’ll do something to make sure The Revenants get out of Purgatory. Because this _can’t_ all be for nothing.”

“We won’t let it be.”

“Never.”

Wynonna tapped her glass against Waverly’s, then they both tapped against the lone glass in the center of the table.

 

+++

 

Gus wandered onto her porch and found Nicole standing there, leaning against the railing. “Avoiding the sister talk?”

“I wanted to give them space,” Nicole said quietly.

“Understandable.” Gus leaned next to her. “Just so you know? If you hurt Waverly, I’ll shoot you.”

“That’s fair. I’m not going to hurt her. I promise you that. So if somehow that ever ends up happening, you are more than welcome to shoot me.”

Gus started to chuckle softly.

“W-What?” Nicole asked, startled.

“Nothing. I guess I just expected you to make a joke about the fact that you were both already in jail together.”

Nicole gave a faint grin. “The thought did come to my mind. But I respect your role in Waverly’s life more than that.”

“And I can respect that.”

They were silent for a long moment, until Gus said, “Can you promise me something?”

“Anything,” Nicole said immediately.

“That’s loaded.” Gus paused. “Don’t let her forget, okay?”

Nicole’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Whether you’ve figured it out or not, I know that none of you will end up staying here. You and Waverly are going to leave. And that’s okay. Because you’ll have each other. But please, Nicole. Don’t let Waverly forget that she still has people here who can help her when it becomes too much. That weight shouldn’t be all on you.”

“I don’t mind it.” Nicole swallowed, looking like she was struggling to control her voice. “But I’ll make sure she remembers.”

“Good girl.” Gus studied Nicole and noticed that the woman was trembling, staring off of the porch with watery eyes and looking like she was trying not to crack. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Nicole muttered through gritted teeth. She gripped the railing and shifted her weight between her feet.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Nicole said, her voice cracking. She swallowed again and closed her eyes. “Dammit. Dammit.”

“What-”

Nicole rounded quickly and punched one of the beams of the porch so hard that her knuckles started to bleed. She collapsed to the ground, her back resting against the railing as she gasped for breath, tears on her face.

“Christ, kid, what is going on?”

“I’m sorry,” Nicole rasped. “I’m sorry. I’m okay.”

“That is the biggest lie I’ve ever heard in my life, and I raised three Earps.”

“I just…” Nicole took in a deep breath, resting her head against the railing. “I just need a minute. I’m _fine_.”

Gus crouched down next to her. “You’re not,” she said softly. She took a moment to study the bruises on Nicole’s face, and for the first time she noticed another spatter of bruises peeking out from under the collar of her shirt. And the fear in her eyes. “You’re hurt. _Actually_ hurt.”

“The guards liked the opportunity to, uh, keep me in line. Often. They don’t like corrupt cops in jail.” Nicole ran her hands over her face. “Waverly knows, obviously, I mean she’s seen… er…”

“I’m neither stupid nor a nun, Haught.”

“R-Right.” Nicole sighed heavily. “I just can’t break down in front of her. I can’t _crack_ in front of her.”

“Why not?”

“She’ll blame herself.”

“If she already knows about the bruises, then what-”

“Not about them,” Nicole interrupted, her voice almost a whimper. “Just… _everything_. I have nothing left but her. I’ve lost _everything_ for her. And I don’t regret it. I’d do it all again. But I just…” She let out a ragged breath and swallowed. “I can’t…”

“It’s okay.” Gus reached out and gripped Nicole’s shoulder. “It’s okay, kid.”

Nicole’s breathing started to return to normal slowly. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “My problems are irrelevant. You were just talking about Waverly having a support system and it overwhelmed me a little. I’m sorry.”

“Hey.” Gus shook her lightly. “You are _allowed_ to break down. Got that?”

“It’s a little hard to just accept that.”

Gus gave a soft, sarcastic laugh. “Hell, kid, if you aren’t a perfect fit for this family, nobody is.”

Nicole looked up at her, shock on her face, but before she could say anything, footsteps came up the porch steps.

“Gus?”

They looked up and saw a young woman about Waverly’s age, standing a few feet away.

“Chrissy Nedley,” Gus said, standing. “What can I do for you?”

The woman had a dark look in her eyes. “I need to talk to Wynonna and Waverly.”

 

+++

 

All five women stood in the living room, and all attention was on Chrissy Nedley.

“My dad needed me to come tell you this, because if he does, he loses all plausible deniability.”

“Tell us what?” Waverly prompted.

“Bobo Del Ray is back in town. He and Constance have set up shop in the barn The Blacksmith used to work out of.”

Nicole ran her hand up Waverly’s back as she tensed. “How? I thought he got arrested with Wynonna. Did he get released just like we did?”

“No,” Chrissy said. “He jumped bail.”

“So the sheriff could arrest him and ship him back to Philadelphia,” Gus said.

Chrissy hesitated. “Yes. But Dad wasn’t sure if Wynonna wanted a… conversation. First.”

“Absolutely not. We should stay the hell away from him.” Waverly glanced up at Nicole. “We need to stay away from him. Right?”

“That’s not up to me,” Nicole murmured. She turned to Wynonna, who had taken a seat on the couch. “Wynonna?”

For a long moment, Wynonna said nothing. Then she looked up at Chrissy, showing off the dark rage in her eyes. “When is your dad planning on visiting Bobo?”

“Not for another four hours.”

“Good. That’s plenty of time.”

“Plenty of time for _what_?” Waverly demanded.

Wynonna stood up and walked over to her bag. She pulled out a gun and started checking the magazine. “Chrissy, I think you should leave now.”

Chrissy gave small nod. “Be careful,” she murmured before heading for the door.

Once she was gone, Waverly asked, “Wynonna. What are you planning?”

Wynonna’s voice was a low growl. “I’m ending this.” She snapped the magazine back into the gun. “This is going to end, right now.” She met Waverly’s gaze solidly. “Not for nothing, right?”

Waverly hesitated, then nodded. “We end it.”


	30. (Tell That Devil) To Take You Back

**OCTOBER 29 – PURGATORY, ALBERTA, CANADA**

 

Wynonna walked alone into the barn that had once been The Blacksmith’s workshop. How Bobo had found it, she had no idea. But it wasn’t a concern.

All she cared about was finding them.

Bobo didn’t look surprised to see her when she walked up to them, standing among a few crates of assault rifles.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the middle Earp. Or, I suppose, the oldest Earp, now.”

“She would still be here if it wasn’t for you,” Wynonna said softly. “I know she made her own choices. But you’re the one who put us in the kind of position where that choice would end up being made. You drove her to it. You ruined us.”

He shrugged. “All I did was give the three of you a little motivation. And look what you did! You robbed banks, you shot people, you lit fires, hell, your baby sister turned a cop corrupt. I didn’t ruin you. I made you become the people you were _meant_ to be. Hell, Earp, don’t kid yourself. You’re only here because it _worked_.”

Wynonna smirked. “Maybe you are right about that.”

She pulled a gun out from behind her back, raised it, and shot him.

 

+++

 

Waverly and Nicole stood on the dirt road outside of the barn, leaning against their SUV.

“What do you want to do?” Waverly asked softly. “Neither of us can exactly get jobs very easily right now.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“I’m not sure I can sit still. After everything. I don’t know if I know what I am if I’m not traveling at this point. I’d like to stay with Gus for a little while just to sort things out, but after that… I’m not sure. I want to just… go. Maybe head east.” Waverly chuckled in a low voice. “Stay the hell out of the States for a while, in case Lucado decides to try to blame us for every robbery that ever happens.” She looked up at Nicole. “Are you okay with that? What do you want to do?”

Nicole shrugged. “Anything you want to do.”

Waverly lightly stroked Nicole’s cheek. “I think I forgot,” she murmured. “You don’t _have_ anywhere else to go, do you?”

“Not anywhere that matters.” Nicole grinned. “I’m fine as long as I’m with you.”

“Good,” Waverly said, mirroring Nicole’s grin.

Nicole pulled her forward and bent down to kiss her, but Waverly leaned back.

“We’re supposed to be watching the building for Wynonna.”

“It’s Wynonna. She’s fine.”

Waverly shook her head slowly. “Hands.”

“Okay, but-”

“ _Hands._ ”

Nicole raised her hands on either side of her torso, smirking. “You’re no fun at all.”

“Sounds like a challenge.”

“Only you would-”

Waverly grabbed Nicole’s face in her hands and kissed her hard, knocking her back against the car.

The kiss continued for a while, until a gunshot from inside the barn caught their attention.

“Wynonna,” Waverly whispered.

 

+++

 

Constance, who had stayed silent throughout the entire confrontation, looked down at Bobo’s body without any emotion.

“I have to say, I saw that coming from a mile away,” she commented with a casual shrug.

Wynonna, shaking, lowered the gun and tried to get her breathing back to a normal speed. She picked up a rag from a nearby crate and started wiping down the gun, saying, “This is _over_ , Constance, do you understand me? You and The Revenants are leaving Purgatory _now_.”

“Your deal was with Bobo. And you didn’t even make good on it. Why should we leave?”

“Because we’re going to make a new deal.” Wynonna tossed the gun onto the ground. “That’s _your_ gun. So your gun, in your hideout, killed the only person standing between you and leadership of your little gang.”

Constance’s eye narrowed. “How did you get my gun?”

“Oh, it’s not _really_ your gun. We just bought a gun and registered it in your name. Are you shocked? You saw how many fake I.D.s we’ve used. Doing this was easy.”

“I could just _say_ that you shot him, you know.” Constance looked more thoughtful than worried. “There’s an FBI agent in America who is _very_ eager to get dirt on you, and I’m sure I could make it worth my while if I gave her the ammunition she needed.”

“True. But why bother?” Wynonna smirked slightly. “You have everything you want, Constance. You have The Revenants. You have a world without Bobo. You might not have the money we stole, but why would you need it? You have the ability to make more money than I’ve ever _seen_. And all you have to do is walk away.”

Constance studied her for a long moment, then giggled quietly. “Oh, you do bargain well.”

“I thought I did.”

“Fair enough. Your argument is fair enough. And I have to say, you and your sisters _did_ do a _really good job_.”

Wynonna snorted. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“We’ll move elsewhere. This town’s going to be a pain in the ass to control after what you did anyway.” Constance waved at Bobo as if he was a bag of trash. “We’ll clean this up. I’m not leaving him here to stain my nice floor, even if I am leaving.”

“Do whatever the hell you want, Constance. Just make sure you leave.”

Wynonna turned and walked out of the barn.

 

+++

 

She found Waverly and Nicole still waiting by their car, watching as she approached them.

“So,” Waverly said, her voice soft. “You did end up shooting him.”

“You heard the gunshot?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, what if they had shot _me_? Were you just going to sit out here?”

“If they had shot you, it was already too late for any of us. Why make it easier for them?”

Wynonna lightly pushed Waverly’s head to one side. “You’re an asshole.”

“I know.” Waverly put her hands in her pockets and leaned against Nicole. “What about The Revenants?”

“Constance was there. She took the deal.”

“She’s leaving?”

“She’s leaving.”

Waverly let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

“What are you going to do now?” Nicole asked quietly.

“I don’t know. But I’m not… this is different. This is bigger than anything we’ve ever done. You two shouldn’t have come here with me.”

“We made our decision a long time ago,” Waverly murmured. “We weren’t going to make you do this alone.”

Wynonna nodded, swallowing as her eyes glistened. She took Waverly’s face in her hands and kissed her on the forehead. “I love you, kid.”

“I love you, too.”

Wynonna took a step back, then pulled a bewildered Nicole into a hug. “You damn well better not hurt my sister, Haught,” she mumbled.

“I don’t plan to,” Nicole promised.

“Where are you going to go?” Waverly asked, her voice cracking faintly as Wynonna stepped away again.

“Anywhere but here.”

Wynonna gave a small salute and got into her truck.

She watched in her rearview mirror as Nicole put an arm around Waverly’s shoulders and kissed her on the side of the head. They got into the SUV and headed back towards Gus’s house.

Wynonna waited until her sister’s car went out of sight.

Then she drove away from Purgatory.


End file.
